Music High
by lolsama
Summary: The Light Music Club members are growing up and learning about love. MioxYui etc.
1. Chapter 1: Club Practice

Disclaimer: I do not own K-on]

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The way Yui's fingers danced over the frets of the guitar and the loud yet amazingly clear rush of notes that rang from the nearby amp gave Mio shivers as she followed up on the electric guitar riff with her own soothing bass melody.

She looked down, narrowing her eyes in concentration as beads of sweat starting to drip down the side of her face. The warm sunlight from outside the music room illuminated the metal of the various instruments that were once again filling Mio with one of the best feelings she could imagine.

The strange perfection she felt when they played together filled Mio with so much energy. Mio glanced over to her left and watched her fingers glide over and clamp each note with practiced accuracy, struggling against her excitement to make sure she kept in tempo with the others. She definitely wanted to start tapping her feet or swaying her body but

…_it would be embarrassing, Ritsu would probably make fun of me…_

She caught Ritsu's glance for a split second and smiled to herself, imagining how lacking their music would be if even one of them were missing. The crisp sharp hits of the snare and booming of the bass drum seemed to reach inside the very core of her being. She really had improved over the past year.

Yui started to playfully bounce on the tips of her toes, her excitement flowing out as she hopped left and right, sometimes swinging around wildly.

_'She's definitely the cutest one out of us,'_ Mio thought with a smirk as she watched Yui rock out with her guitar. _There's no way I could play bass like that. _

They couldn't have a better person to be the lead and there was something adorable about the way Yui danced while playing guitar. Mio thought back to their first training camp and smiled to herself, remembering Yui's dancing form in front of a backdrop of fireworks.

"Hey, woah! Careful!" Azusa yelped as she barely stepped back out of range of Yui's guitar neck. "Ah!!" Yui missed her footing after jumping in surprise at Azusa's loud yell and accidentally tripped over one of the amp chords, pulling the chord from the amp and causing a loud painful ring to reverberate throughout the room.

There was a split second of silence before the room erupted into the yelling, complaining and out of place chatter that Mio had grown accustomed to.

"Yui! Be more careful! You're so clumsy!" Ritsu yelled while dashing past her drum set to tackle Yui onto the ground and grab her into a chokehold. "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry," Yui apologized with tearful eyes and flushed cheeks as she tried to pry herself from Ritsu's grip.

"Shall we take a tea break?" Of course that was Mugi, and Mio found herself comforting a shaking Azusa who looked like she felt responsible for Yui's current predicament. Mio had to admit, it didn't look too good for Yui. Ritsu somehow went from a choke hold to an arm bar and Yui was slamming the ground with her free arm to indicate her submission and yelling loudly. Mio noticed that Mugi was laughing instead of having that dreamy expression that she usua….nope, wait, there it was.

"Its alright Azusa-chan, its not your fault," she said, turning to Azusa who leaned into her and wrapped her arms around Mio's waist. The bassist patted her head lightly while watching Yui and Ritsu's antics and felt a familiar flush spread through her face as Azusa unintentionally nuzzled one of her breasts with her nose.

For a moment, Azusa's warm breath spread through the thin fabric of her dress shirt and sports bra, tickling her skin. Mio clenched her eyes shut and tried to ignore the sensation but she felt her face flush.

Mio glanced down at Azusa's cute face and teary eyes. Azusa was oblivious to the effect she was having on her sensitive sempai and looked like she wanted to say something to Yui… but Ritsu was just breaking out into a loud and overly exaggerated victory laugh_._

"Well as long as you learned your lesson Yui…Honestly, I'm sur...Mio? Why's your face so red?" Ritsu stopped mid sentence to glance over at Mio who was turning increasingly red at being called attention to. "Ah...this is..."

It was a pretty base strategy but changing the subject and pretending to be angry usually worked pretty well in situations like this.

"This isn't the time to be clowning around! We have another performance in less than two weeks!"

Distractions were good.

Yui used this opportunity to crawl away from Ritsu's iron arms. The defeated guitarist breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up and dusted herself off. Yui flashed Mio a quick heart sign by pressing her fingertips and thumbs and gave her a small wink from behind Ritsu.

Mio found herself fighting a smile to keep her stern look from breaking. Yui was so cute, her gentle eyes and innocent beauty. Mio had never met anyone with such a pure disposition.

Mio fought to turn her attention back on Ritsu, who would lose focus instantly if she realized Mio wasn't holding her ground.

Usually, embarrassing situations were a lose-lose situation for Mio but recently when Ritsu was involved, she found herself able to somehow find her composure through concentrating on the familiarity she had with her childhood friend. And they really did need to practice.

Her sensitive personality had bothered her for as long as she could remember and ever since Junior year started, she had been doubling her efforts to maintain her composure in all situations.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately in this case she always had plenty of embarrassing situations to practice with. Also, there was still a long way to go. _Although watching that scary movie last summer might have been a little too much..._

"Um…Sorry about everything. If we could please get back to practice?" Azusa spoke out timidly, taking into consideration Mio's warning that they had a live in less than two weeks…

_I'm so glad you're here Azusa, you have no idea how much. Finally, someone who is dependable and eager to practice…in this war against laziness you are my only comrade! _

Mio smiled brightly at Azusa, wondering if her feelings could somehow be conveyed through the facial expression alone. Azusa gave her a thumbs up and Mio felt warmth fill her chest. Azusa could be so cute too.

"I'm hungry, I don't want to practice right now," said Yui, suddenly flopping down on the couch and holding her stomach. "Its so hot in here and we're all sweaty…Ne, Mugi-chan. Can we eat that cake and iced tea now?"

"Cake? Iced tea? That's a great idea. Lets eat, lets eat!" Ritsu's eyes lit up.

…_She's so shameless…_

Mio sighed and glanced at Mugi desperately. Mugi caught her eye and gave Mio a reassuring smile. "If we practice for another twenty minutes," she said sweetly.

Yui and Ritsu jumped up and were back in position, ready to go in less than three seconds. It was like something out of a cartoon how ridiculous those two were.

_Mugi is really amazing…_thought Mio helplessly as she adjusted the strap on her bass guitar and looked over at Ritsu, waiting for the cue.

"1,2,3,4! 1, 2, 3!"

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A/N: I don't really plan out my stories, they're pretty much free-styled/speed written and then revised later on. I do have some general idea of where this story is going though so don't worry too much. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2: Love and Friendship

Ritsu wiped the sweat off her brow as she finished putting away her drum set into the storage area of the music room. Everyone had already left except Mio who was leaning against the wall by the door, waiting patiently.

Ritsu gave Mio her best grin and posed dramatically by the door to the storage room, holding a finger to her lips and trying her best to imitate the seductive look sexy movie stars did so well. The thin layer of sweat covering her body gave her a wild look as she slowly made her way towards her childhood friend.

"Ouch!"

Mio's right was surprisingly fast. "Do you always have to act like an idiot? Come on, lets go home. I'm so tired."

Ritsu laughed, rubbing the back of her head as Mio opened the door and gazed at her expectantly. Ritsu blinked, and then broke out into an evil grin. "You are quite the gentleman today. I could get used to this"

She kind of expected the left hook so she leaned back to dodge it and then ran past Mio, laughing. "Come on, lets hurry up and get to the train station or we'll be late!"

"Ritsu!" Mio stamped her foot before breaking into a trot to catch up with Ritsu who was several paces ahead of her. "Why do you always have to tease me over every little thing?"

"Its because you make it too easy, you know? Besides, I know every little thing there is to know about you so I know that It'll be fun."

"Moh, do you like seeing me suffer? Aren't we friends?" Mio replied, slowing down to keep pace with Ritsu. "Hey, now that I think about it. Maybe you just like pain since you know what happens if you tease me too much."

Ritsu blanked. "What?" This was dangerous new territory for Mio.

"I'm saying, that you might be a masochist because you know that teasing me will make me punish you." Mio nodded to herself as she spoke and then broke out into a giggle. Ritsu noticed the way the sunlight lit up her face as they passed a window on their way down the stairs.

"Psh, like your baby hits would hurt anybody…Although if you're embarrassed enough you do kind of lose that affectionate touch…" Ritsu said, gently punching Mio on the shoulder. "See? That's how much your punches usually hurt me."

Mio laughed. "Well you better watch it or I'll somehow make time to learn some karate. We'll see who's laughing then!"

"Yea right, like its humanly possible for us to have free time with all the practicing we've been doing lately." Ritsu shook her head, feeling completely at peace and enjoying the company of her childhood friend.

It was so interesting that Mio had her own fan club now. Occasionally she would notice boys blushing at the sight of Mio and small groups of girls coming by the music room to peek in at her.

Now that she thought about it, Mio had grown a lot over the years. Not many girls their age had a chest that big. Or a face that cute. Or hair that was so beautiful and glossy. Mio's intelligence and good study habits. The ability to rock out on the bass. A personal fan club. "You're so lucky Mio," said Ritsu absentmindedly as they cleared the last set of stairs and started heading in the general direction of the exit.

"Eh? What makes you say that?" asked Mio, glancing over again at Ritsu.

"Because…"

Ritsu stopped walking and watched Mio. Mio paused for a moment and then kept walking. "Come on Ritsu, we're gonna miss the train if you keep stopping like that!"

Ritsu felt a weight on her chest as Mio walked away from her. Her normally cheerful mood was abruptly dampened as it occurred to her for the first time in her life that maybe one day Mio might be taken away from her. By some attractive young guy or some talent agency or some prestigious University she wouldn't be able to get into.

"Hey...hey. Wait for me Mio!"

There must have been something desperate in her voice because Mio turned around and Ritsu found her self unable to stop as she crashed into Mio.

"Now this is unexpected," said Mio who stumbled back to regain her balance and held her friend for a few moments. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry Mio, I don't know what came over me," Ritsu said after a few moments. She pushed herself off of Mio with her hands until they were shoulder length and gave Mio her best smile. "I just had this scary dream last night you know? And these strange undead worms infested you and…"

"Eyah!!" Mio covered her ears immediately and turned around. Ritsu smirked. _Too easy_. "Why would you tell me the details? You know I hate that kind of stuff!" Mio complained loudly, screwing her eyes shut and shaking her head as if it would help her get rid of the imagery.

_Jeez, now I'm the one comforting her. _Ritsu rubbed Mio's back and whispered soothing words to her until she calmed down and looked at Ritsu with tears in her eyes. Ritsu realized she kind of wanted to kiss them away. "God I need sleep, or something. I swear I'm going crazy." Mio looked at her with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Never mind, don't worry about it Mio. Lets go home."

Ritsu started to walk towards the nearby exit of the school and grabbed Mio's hand, breaking into a jog. "Come on now, or we'll really be late!"

Ritsu squeezed Mio's hand as she ran and felt her tug back. It was more of an excuse to hold her hand than anything but she felt her resolve harden. No matter where Mio went she would follow and she would always be there to protect Mio. No one would take advantage of Mio's timidness or blackmail her or bully her or…There were too many things bad people could do to someone as vulnerable as Mio. "Ne Mio, I know this is out of the blue…but even if it's a serious burden on me pretty much twenty-four seven, I'll always be here for you. Although I hate to say this, maybe even forever."

Mio laughed. "You're the one who needs me Ritsu. What would you ever do without me? Probably flunk out of high school, go around in a bike gang smoking cigarettes and…"

As Mio rambled on, Ritsu smiled.

"Wicked practice by the way, didn't we sound good?"

A combination of the setting sun, the colorful shades of the sky and Mio's glowing smile caught Ritsu's breath and she stopped for a moment, trying to take a permanent picture with her mind.

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A/N: I've already written chapter 3 but it doesn't flow very well following this chapter because it is pretty much a Yui/Azusa short. I gotta find some way to connect this story better. -___-

Must...trim...fluff... Thank you for reading.

T^T


	3. Chapter 3: Doki Doki

_She's a freaking genius._

Azusa suddenly realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it as Yui played another amazing riff with her eyes closed, her right hand blurring from the insane speed she was picking at.

It was another practice day for the keion girls and Yui had agreed to show up early to keion practice to have a private session with her. It might have been an off day but Azusa found herself struggling to keep up. When she had first joined the keion club, Yui had been slightly worse than her, or so she had thought but over the past couple months her skill had improved exponentially. Truthfully, if Yui was distracted then her playing wasn't that impressive but when she was focused, she was a demon.

It was a dizzying dance of calloused fingertips and vibrating strings.

Azusa felt glad that she could be in the same band as the person she had admired since she first heard the keion's live tape. Yui's half lidded eyes, the angle of her face, and the way she was completely absorbed in her own music made Azusa's heart beat a little faster than she was comfortable with.

"Azu-nyan?"

Azusa blinked and looked up at Yui in confusion. "Huh?"

"You forgot to play, its your part of the song silly," said Yui, smiling brightly.

Azusa felt a slight flush of embarrassment spread across her face. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not sure why but I just spaced out. Its not like me to do that I swear!"

"I know, that happens to me all the time and then people start yelling at me, its awful!"

Well, of course Yui would sympathize. Azusa smiled to herself and started playing the next part of the melody. _I've got to stop daydreaming like this. Yui-sempai is watching me._

Azusa noticed Yui tapping her feet and started playing the last part of her solo with a little more confidence. She finished her section and glanced up at Yui, eager to hear comments or criticism.

"Ne, Azu-nyan" Yui was using her whining voice and lifting her guitar strap over her head to place it on the nearby guitar stand. She looked at Azusa for several moments without breaking eye contact and started to lean forward, closing her eyes.

Azusa blinked and then immediately reddened as Yui started to lean forward. Her heart was out of control. She felt it pounding loudly against her chest from a mixture of surprise and the effect of Yui's lips being several inches from hers. _What is she doing? I'm too young for this. We're both girls! Oh no I can feel her breath. _The younger guitarist felt herself becoming slightly cross eyed as soft and moist lips neared hers. Time seemed to freeze for a moment but it passed as Yui adjusted the trajectory of her head to lean in for a loose hug. "I'm so tired, can we just sit around and do nothing for a bit? There's still…"

Yui leaned all the way into the hug, her face moving past hers and Azusa's eyes widened in sudden realization. Since Yui was leaning her whole weight against her, she could probably feel her heart beating, and it was beating so embarrassingly fast. Yui had stopped talking in mid sentence and there was an awkward silence filling the room. _God, she can probably even hear it this is so embarrassing…_

Azusa felt her eyes tearing up as Yui slowly pulled back to look at Azusa with wide eyes and a blush starting to creep across her face. _I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die._

"Ahah. You just reminded me of Doki Doki Fuwa Fuwa time," said Yui, her eyes brightening and her cheeks brightening along with them.

Azusa felt horror strike her like lightning. Yui sempai had noticed.

"Gomen nasai!" Azusa shouted and felt heat spread throughout her face and neck. Everything became a blur as she threw off her guitar strap and ran out of the room. _I can never come back_, she thought to herself in despair as she dashed through the hallway.

Several moments later she realized she would have to go back since her guitar was there…and she really couldn't let down all the other band members for their live next week…Azusa leaned back against the wall of the hallway and slowly slid down until she was sitting against the wall, her knees curled up and her head down.

_Why does Yui-sempai have to keep randomly hugging me. Its her fault we're in this situation…Ahhh, its all so embarrassing._ Azusa thought to herself. She looked up to stare at the opposite wall of the hallway for a few moments before dropping her head again. Before she knew it, she felt a warm presence to her right and a reassuring hand rubbing the top of her head.

"Azu-nyan?"

It was Yui. For once, Azusa wished that it was Mio-sempai, Mugi-sempai or even Ritsu-sempai.

"Are you okay?"

_Of course… she doesn't know what else to say._

It was typical of Yui to follow the simplest approach to anything. Azusa looked up at Yui's chin, too embarrassed to look at her eye to eye. "Ano…"

Her mind desperately searched for an excuse of an explanation that made sense.

"Its just that I was nervous about messing up on the guitar riff and you caught me by surprise…and…."

Azusa's eyes widened as she felt Yui gently kiss her forehead.

"Azu-nyan…You're...so....cute. I'm so glad I have a cute kouhai like you. I'm still not sure why you ran out like that but..."

Azusa looked up at Yui in shock. Still the same Yui as always. She didn't look freaked out or angry or like anything had happened at all. It was impossible to know what she was thinking with that look of a happy three year old on her face…The look of a three year old that just received like ten Christmas presents. She was obviously very happy and it kind of washed away Azusa's confused feelings. _Jeez, if I knew she was going to be like this._

Azusa let herself lean into Yui as she hugged her tightly. It was times like these that she felt like a little kid, being content to let her sempai treat her with such kindness. Within the warmth of Yui's arms, Azusa was content to forget her embarrassment and lose herself in the warm feelings she felt. Azusa's mind began playing back the events that had just happened and she smiled.

_I'm going to have to grow up a little bit before I can start to compete for your love, Yui-sempai. And it'll be me that wins it for sure…_

Azusa had to struggle a little bit to prevent herself from breaking out into an evil grin

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A/N: Its going somewhere I swear -__- Just need to get all the fluff out of my system. The next chapter will be more story and mio x yui hopefully.

btw Azusa has not appeared in the anime yet so read the manga if you want to know more about her!

Also I'm always trying to improve my writing so please point out any errors you find. I love good critiques.

Thanks for reading


	4. Chapter 4: Brightest Star

Mio stretched lazily and thanked God for summer clothes. It was another warm day and the sunlight from the windows were filling her with a warm glow. She glanced outside the window complacently and wondered if she would be allowed to open it.

_A breeze sounds so good right now _

She glanced back down to her problem set and tapped her pencil gently against the paper, her eyes scanning it over several times. She twirled her pencil around her thumb and in between her ring and middle finger before scribbling out the answer.

_Victory!_

There was no one to celebrate with her so she stood up, slinging her school bag on and bringing the paper up to the front desk.

"Thank you so much,"

The teacher smiled at her and Mio walked out, glancing about cheerfully. It always felt good to finish up study hall. They were supposed to meet up with the rest of the band members at Mc Donalds later and then come back to the music room to practice. Mio felt pretty happy about it since she loved playing together with the band. She was worried that it was getting a little addicting. Since everyone's skill level had dramatically improved it was always an exciting rush. Everyday the others surprised her with new innovative ideas and improvisation.

_Especially Yui_

Mio blinked. _Oh yeah, I'm supposed to find her and tell her about our dinner meeting. _She quickly dipped into the girls restroom and pulled out her cellphone, her fingers blazing across the cell phone keys.

_Yui, we are suppo…sed to …meet at…Mc Donallg…erase erase, Doanl. Moh! Erase, Mc donalds today. Where are you. Send me a text back. Mio~ ^_^ _

Mio smiled happily at her text before clicking send and heading back into the hallway. The tall beauty blushed as some girls from her fan club excitedly started waving at her from afar. "Oh, hello Mio-chan." One of the girls in the hallway gave her a big smile. "I'm excited to see your live next week!" she shouted as Mio passed by. Mio politely waved and moved on.

It had taken some getting used to but Mio was slowing building back her confidence from the fiasco from freshman year. A lot of time had passed but it was still affected her strongly. Mio was turning redder and redder just thinking about all the people who had seen her in that embarrassing position. The angle and shortness of her dress had made her blue and white panties perfectly visible to the camera that was recording their live. Mio clenched her eyes shut as she remembered Azusa's nose bleed.

_Ah, how could this happen to me its so unfair. _

Mio sniffed, and then shook her head to clear it. _I need to stop thinking about that incident. _

The continuous letters and support from all her fan members was a big help. It was surprising how encouraging they could be. She smiled fondly as she remembered the many warm notes she had received over the past couple years. Yui had once jokingly sent her a note through her fan club as well. Mio smiled, remembering Yui's sweetness. _Mio, you are the brightest star. From your biggest fan ever. Yui…or something like that. _Mio didn't remember it word for word but she had read it many times.

Mio turned out and pressed against the main doors to open up into freedom. She breathed in fresh air and exhaled slowly. _A beautiful day_

The deep blue sky and the fluffy clouds that decorated it filled Mio with a warm feeling as she headed down the steps, pulling out her cellphone quickly to check it for notices from Yui. There was none so she glanced around. She had seen Yui earlier in the hallway and had told her to meet her outside the school steps. Then she had gotten the text from Ritsu for dinner plans. Well, it wasn't unusual to have to wait for Yui. She shifted out of the way as another student brushed by her to leave and then finished walking down the stairs.

_Is that guitar music?_

Mio heard a warm acoustic melody and started moving towards the sound. Other students who also heard the noise and were curious had started drifting off towards the side of the school as well. Mio gently squeezed by several students before staring in disbelief. Yui was playing acoustic guitar underneath a tree, surrounded by many of keion club's fans.

Yui was breathtaking. The light breeze gently caressed the locks of her hair, over beautiful pale skin. Her half lidded eyes made Yui seem mature and focused. There was no doubt that she was a very attractive girl, her eyes were soulful and her lips looked soft. Her smile was cute and she was definitely eating up all this attention.

"My brightest star, tonight I'll dance with you, and show to you, the way…"

"My only love light up the dark, and shine for me, you always say"

"Don't go, I wont. The world will wait today"

"Our melody, its filling me, Swear to me, your love is here to stay"

Yui's voice rang out, still high pitched and cute but filled with such clear and powerful strength. Her voice had also developed greatly over the years. Mio blushed, remembering the line 'brightest star' from Yui's fan letter. She had never heard this song but it sounded really good. Yui started playing a simple riff on the acoustic guitar, her fingers flicking over the strings like one would play bass and then finished her song, smiling brightly and raising a peace sign.

The students around Mio erupted into applause and suddenly there was a lot of shouting and cheering. Yui was talking to an animated sophomore who was blushing and shaking her hand. One of the girls was saying Thank you and Mio couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. How cheeky of Yui to pull a stunt like this. Mio brushed through the crowd and the people who recognized her immediately moved out of the way. Suddenly there was a backdrop of hushed whispers and animated conversation. Yui looked up at Mio, leaning up against the tree and smiled brightly.

_Her eyes are so captivating…Ah…Yui…_

Mio shook her head. "Yui, can I kidnap you for a moment."

Yui grinned sheepishly and put her away the guitar into its case, standing up and slinging it over her shoulders.

"Didn't I look cool Mio?" Yui posed and gave Mio another wink.

"Moh, come on lets get away. I need to talk to you about something."

_

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_

_Thanks for reading. Development. Crucial.  
_


	5. Chapter 5: Fast Food

Tsumugi paced back and forth outside the Mc Donalds Ritsu had invited her to. She always felt a light sense of excitement when eating at these kinds of places. The weather was nice and sunny so she had worn a white tank top and a dark blue skirt with laces. She wondered if she looked casual enough.

"Oi, Mugi chan!" Ritsu called, running up to meet her fellow band member.

"Lets eat, lets eat!" Ritsu said happily, grabbing Mugi's hands and shaking them up and down.

Mugi smiled, Ritsu's energy was always charming.

"Where is Mio, Azusa and Yui?" asked Mugi as Ritsu hurriedly guided her into the restaurant.

"Oh they're on their way. I texted Yui but she never answered so Mio said she would find her and come over after she finishes her study hall. Azusa has cleaning duty but she said she would come afterward." The two girls neared the register and stood a couple feet away from the line.

Mugi leaned against a counter and smiled at Ritsu whose eyes were scanning over the menu. She was standing on the tips of her toes to see over the people in front of them. "Ah, Mugi what do you want to eat today?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the others before we order our food?"

"Maybe…or maybe not!" Ritsu glanced over at Mugi daringly.

Mugi tilted her head and Ritsu sighed in defeat. "Ah, it's no use. We have no choice but to wait I guess. Come on, let's sit down."

Mugi followed Ritsu to a table with bench seats. The warm atmosphere and presence of the many happy people casually eating and talking excited Tsumugi. It was very different than eating at the restaurants her family often visited.

Ritsu plopped down on a cushioned bench seat and slid all the way to the wall, propping up her elbow on the table and drumming her fingers against the table.

Mugi slid onto the cushioned bench opposite of Ritsu's and straightened out her skirt, humming happily.

"...Hey, Mugi. I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Can you tell me more about that girl on girl stuff?"

Mugi blushed at the abrupt question, it had caught her off guard. She was pretty helplessly obvious about her yuri fascination so If Ritsu wanted to know more about it, she would probably be the right person.

"What exactly do you want to know about it?" she asked, folding her hands on her lap.

"Its just that I've never really thought of it and found it interesting I guess."

Mugi wondered for a moment if she would finally have a comrade to share her obsession with but then dismissed the thought, knowing better.

Ritsu must have realized that she might be giving Mugi the wrong impression because she suddenly shook her head and started waving her hands in front of her. "Not that I would be into that kind of stuff, I was just curious."

Mugi paused to think about it before speaking. "Well, I just think that girls are prettier than guys in general. I think I am inspired by forbidden romances and those kinds of things."

Ritsu glanced down and rested her cheek on her right hand, drumming the table with her left. She hesitated for several moments and then said, "Well, actually I have a secret. I found this letter in one of Mio's notebooks when I was visiting her house and it kind of shocked me."

Mugi blinked several times as her mind started to wander over the various possibilities.

"I think Mio wrote some love-love stuff about Yui"

"Eh?"

"Want to see the letter? I read it and then Mio came back from the bathroom suddenly so I accidentally pocketed it. Normally I would confront her right away but this time I wanted your advice."

_Could it really be possible?  
_

Mugi imagined Mio, parting her lips as Yui gently kissed her against a lilly flower backdrop.

Mugi lifted a hand to cover her face and also to check for any signs of a nosebleed.

_safe_

_A vivid imagination, a gift and a curse._

"Ano, maybe we should just talk to Mio directly about it?"asked Mugi, glancing at Ritsu. "It may have been a creative writing exercise or something. Mio seems to be the creative type."

It was strange but all of a sudden Ritsu seemed off. "Are you okay Ritsu?"

Ritsu blinked and shook her head. "I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

There was a strange tension in her voice that startled Mugi. She looked at Ritsu carefully for a few moments but decided to let it go after Ritsu regained her composure.

"Anyways, take a look." Ritsu drew a folded note from her skirt pocket and handed it to Mugi who turned red and looked off to the side.

"Ritsu! I can't read this. It's Mio's personal feelings!"

_What kind of love letter would Mio write...It would probably be...cute_

Curiosity got the better of Mugi as her eyes slowly wandered and her head turned back to face the letter in her hand, having skimmed the first couple lines.

"Oh, my."

Ritsu grinned. "Cute right? It's hard to believe though, she's never said anything to me, but now that I think about it, Yui's been visiting her alot more since last summer's training camp. I want to get to the bottom of this. Lets go hide this in Yui's locker tommorow."

"We can't do that!" Mugi exclaimed, but it was obvious she was excited about the idea. Her face was glowing and a light blush was starting to spread on her face. It was one of her fantasies to see Yui and Mio together.

_But what if it goes wrong?_

They sat in silence for several moments, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

Ritsu's eyes suddenly lit up and she stood up, waving energetically. "Over here!"

_Ah, the letter!_

Ritsu suddenly leaned over and swept the letter back into her pocket, giving Mugi a slight wink.

Mugi turned around in her chair and smiled as Mio, Azusa and Yui entered the restaurant. They were all laughing about something, Yui trailing slightly behind Mio who was waving back to Ritsu.

"Hey you guys, did you wait long?" Mio folded her arms and gave Ritsu a stern look. "You weren't bothering Mugi with your crazy antics again right?"

"Of course not, I am starving though." Ritsu replied, giving her a familiar grin that showed she was happy to see her.

"Hey everyone!" Yui leaned against the back of the bench seat and glanced down at Mugi. "Its nice to meet up with everyone outside of the band room once in a while huh?"

"Don't forget that we have practice after this!" Mio said, looking at Yui and reaching over to shake her a little bit. "Get your act together Yui! It took me forever to find you today. You should at least check your cellphone"

Azusa raised a hand to her mouth to hide her laughter and bowed politely to Ritsu and Mugi.

Mugi looked closely at Mio. She did seem really happy and her hand did linger on Yui's collar for a couple moments longer than what would be normal.

_Did something happen? Maybe I'm looking too hard into this._

Mugi blushed again, remembering the contents of the letter she wasn't supposed to read.

"Anyways, lets get going. Today's going to be a long day." said Ritsu as she walked calmly behind Mio and Yui, physically pushing them towards the food line.

"Lets eat, lets eat, lets eat!"

* * *

Thanks for the reviews, it really helped and I went back to revise based on what you guys said. I appreciate it. I'm trying hard to keep the characters 'In Character' as much as possible so a Mio x Yui pairing was originally difficult. Thanks for reading. For those who read this chapter first, I moved it to chapter 5 and added a different chapter 4, sorry for any confusion.


	6. Chapter 6: Light Blue Night

I do not own "The Grudge" movie or whatever, I'm not even sure if that needs a disclaimer o.O Also while I'm at it, I do not own K-on.

* * *

The moonlight shone through Yui's window as she lay awake, staring up at the ceiling in despair.

I'm so screwed, I should have went to sleep hours ago…

Yui sighed and rolled out of bed, making her way to her desk. She opened the drawer and a faint blush spread across the guitarist's face, as she looked down at her very first love letter. The faint pink paper had little drawings of hearts and music notes on the edges as well as star shaped stickers scattered across the top.

I was too scared to tell you in person so I wrote this letter. I don't know how long I've liked you but for some reason I can't stop thinking about you.

Every time you play your melody, I lose myself

Every time you smile I feel my heart beat faster

When everyone else is around I have to act like myself but when no one is looking I feel myself drawn to you.

When I'm alone, I want to see you the most. I think you are my first love. I've never felt this way before, it's driving me crazy.

I've tried to fight this feeling but I can't stop it anymore. It's overflowing into this stupid embarrassing love note.

-Akiyama Mio

Yui read it several more times and closed her eyes.

She was happy that she finally got her first love note but was this really from Mio? Yui couldn't imagine Mio ever writing something like this and actually leaving it for her.

Yui thought back to the past semester with Mio. For a long time they had both been too busy with practices and family to really spend alone time together. If they did have time to hang out, usually the other band members were there.

"Maybe I'll just call her tomorrow to talk about it?" murmured Yui to herself. Since tomorrow is Sunday we don't have school… so maybe we could even meet up for cake or something.

Yui felt her stomach rumble as she unintentionally started to fantasize about different types of cakes.

"Ah, this is no good. I have to go back to sleep!"

Yui collapsed back onto her bed and closed her eyes. She could still feel that her face was flushed and she tried to imagine herself dating Mio. Yui grinned, Mio was very cute and she loved cute things. She never really imagined herself dating another girl in public but it wasn't like she imagined herself with any guys either. The fact that she was considering dating Mio was confusing to her.

"Y--Yui…"

Yui felt herself blushing harder as she remembered the first time Mio had said her name by itself. It was one of the cutest things she had ever seen. It was these kinds of thoughts that had kept her up for the past four hours.

The handwriting did seem to be the same as Mio's…Maybe I'll kiss her on the cheek the next time I see her and see what happens.

Yui laughed out loud as she imagined several of Mio's possible reactions. There were so many cute reactions she could get out of Mio...probably.

What time was it? Yui found herself wanting to talk to Mio now. She flipped open her cellphone and gazed at it thoughtfully, the light from the cell phone illuminating her face. Its one in the morning, should I call?

Yui rolled around in the bed several times, staring at the cell phone. They had gotten closer since last year's summer training camp. Mio had self imposed a trial of courage and watched The Grudge by herself at midnight and Yui had been the only one awake. Despite being one of the coolest people she knew, Mio was a child when faced with scary things. A kindred spirt kind of thought Yui, remembering her reputation. She looked dreamily at the ceiling as she remembered that night.

"Mio? What are you doing here?"

"Yui!!" cried Mio, rushing her and hugging her around her waist, her face buried into Yui's chest. "Thank God you're here."

"What's wrong Mio? I was just getting snacks, want some?"asked Yui, patting Mio's head timidly.

"I can't do it after all." Mio was trembling violently and Yui slumped to the floor along with Mio. "What is it?"

"I got ten minutes into The Grudge by myself, I can't stand it anymore," cried Mio, wiping a tear away. Yui grinned impishly. "Want me to watch the rest of it with you?"

Mio looked up at Yui with tears in her eyes. "Are you crazy? I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life already! I'm trying to become braver by facing my fears but I just can't do it!"

Yui's eyes lit up as she got a mischievous thought and stood up to walk quickly away from Mio, wanting to see her reaction.

"Yuiiiiii!!!!!" Mio cried, running after her in a blind panic. The dark scared her and it was creepy how Yui just started to walk away without saying a word. It was the reaction Yui wanted. Mio is so cute she thought.

Yui caught Mio as she collided with her but Mio's momentum pushed Yui down on her back. Mio's forearms gently pressed against Yui's arms and trembling hands rested at her shoulders. Their legs were tangled up and Yui felt the back of her head smarting from the wooden floor. Wow this is such a nice house... Yui thought, noticing a chandelier on the ceiling for the first time.

Yui looked up at Mio, her face starting to flush in the darkness as she realized how close their faces were. "Mio?"

Mio's lips were inches away from hers and Yui felt her heart beating fast against her chest. Mio's eyes were clenched tight and her lips were trembling. Yui felt Mio's warm breath on her face as they came out in short gasps. "Don't leave me Yui. I'm scared right now...Stay with me for a little bit please…" Mio pleaded. Yui's eyes followed Mio's lips as she said those words and her mind went blank.

"It'll be okay Mio." Yui said as she closed the distance and kissed Mio gently, wrapping her arms around her back and pulling Mio closer to her. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. The increased pressure reduced most of the gaps between their bodies and Mio unconsciously let out a moan as her breasts pressed against Yui's. The hug also brought more pressure between their lips but Yui tilted her head and slightly tightened her lips, prevented their teeth from colliding with each other. Mio's lips were soft and moist and Yui could feel the moisture from both of their lips mixing.

Mio pulled back first after several moments of initial shock, moving her head back to look at Yui with wide eyes.

"Yui?"

"Hai?" asked Yui, her mind spinning.

"How could you! I can never get married now!" Mio clenched her eyes tight again but found herself unable to pull away from Yui. Fear of the dark from watching the movie still gripped at her insides and suddenly her body was flushed with a warm feeling of embarrassment and excitement.

Yui blinked and then slowly realized she may have done something wrong. She hadn't really gone through all the thought processes that involved kissing Mio, she just knew that in Ui's case, it would reassure her. It was one of those spontaneous things she did under unusual circumstances.

Still, Mio didn't see too upset about not being able to get married. Maybe she's already accepted her fate Yui thought, remembering the other times Mio had said the same thing.

Mio sat up slowly and held her left hand to her lips, frozen in shock and Yui sat up too, looking at Mio in the darkness. The light from the television in the living room was the only thing that illuminated Mio and Yui found herself breathless. She looked so beautiful... it was unbelievable that they even knew each other. Yui suddenly realized that the play kiss she jokingly used on Mio was affecting her differently than she imagined.

A loud scream came from the television and Mio jumped, suddenly hugging Yui again and burying her face into her neck. Mio's warm breath on Yui's neck made her shiver, warm moist lips were pressed gently against her neck and it made Yui feel an wave of pleasure.

Yui realized that there was no way Mio would be able to go to sleep on her own in this state. She was breathing heavily into her neck and a small amount of wetness that might have been her tears was cooling her neck. Yui felt excitement rush through her body, strange desires and feelings in her body made her crave Mio, but it seemed wrong to take advantage of such an innocent girl. Yui gently hugged Mio and held her close, conscientiously taking in the feeling of Mio's delicate shoulders and thin waist for the first time. The fabric of Mio's nightgown and the warmth from her skin against Yui's hands made her short of breath. Yui realized in surprise that she wanted to explore and touch Mio more.

Guilt filled Yui as she realized she was having dirty thoughts about one of her close friends and a fellow band member.

"Mio, gomen ne. It was just a play kiss, it didn't mean anything. I was just trying to take your mind off of the scary movie and I did that before thinking..." Yui realized that alot of what she just said may be true and felt a little brighter inside.

Mio looked up at Yui with a confused tearful expression. It seemed like she was in pain and Yui felt guilt creeping back into her heart again.

To Yui's surprise, Mio retracted from Yui and leaned against the wall, curling in her knees and hugging them. Her face was pressed against her forearm and Yui realized she was crying.

"Oh no, Mio are you okay?" Yui jumped up to turn on the lights and rushed into the living room to turn off the TV. She ran into the kitchen on her way back, bringing back a gallon of ice cream. Good thing Mugi's places are always packed with good food

Yui placed the ice cream in front of Mio and lifted up a spoon full. "Mio chan, Ahhhh~"

Mio looked up, her eyes teary and stared at the spoon sullenly."Hmph" she said with no explanation

Yui smiled. "Come on, you'll feel better after we eat some of this and I'll keep you company all night."

Mio wiped the tears from her eyes and opened her mouth slowly and Yui fed her a spoonful. Mio licked her lips and then broke out into a giggle.

"Jeez, I feel like a little kid when you have to try and cheer me up like this Yui."

Yui grinned back at Mio and grabbed a even bigger spoonful for herself.

"Hey that's not fair Yui! You're eating more!" Mio cried.

They spent the rest of the night talking and playing to take Mio's mind off the movie and they hadn't mentioned the kiss since then. It had already been several months. Yui sighed, crossing her hands behind her head, gripping her cell phone lightly in her left. "I can't stand it anymore."

Yui sat up and started to dial Mio's number.

pick up Mio~

Yui hummed to herself as the phone dialed and then frowned in disappointment as the call went to Mio's voice mail.

" Oh well, Oyasumi." Yui whispered after hanging up and lying back in bed. I'll just talk to you tomorrow...

Yui smiled to herself as she remembered Mio's cute face looking at her in the dim light of their summer practice house.

"Moe Moe Kyun~" whispered Yui to herself as she started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Speed writing is such a pain. I had to go back and revise so many things because the plot just comes out of nowhere and it doesn't always make sense considering everything else in the story. I just want you guys to know that I am suffering to bring everyone a decent story hahah. :P

I'm learning to live with all the discontinuity between chapters because the anime/manga is alot like that anyway, highlighting major events and etc as Sieg-sama kind of pointed out.

Thanks Lil-Donkey for your feedback from the beginning and everyone else who reviewed!

~lolsama

edited: for plot reasons


	7. Chapter 7: Dreamy Morning

The glass shattered underneath her. Mio fell into the darkness, desperately reaching for the sky. The bassist felt cold water envelop her as she fell into a dark blue sea. Air bubbles poured down like tiny droplets of rain storming from the surface as she fell, glowing as they fell and lighting up the ocean.

Mio's hair fanned out as she glided slowly down into the ocean depths, her hands no longer reaching for the sky.

A street light at the bottom of the ocean lit up as Mio's feet hit the ground. The pressure of the ocean sent her immediately to her knees and Mio struggled to stand back up, holding her neck as she struggled to breathe.

Suddenly the ground seemed to explode as the sand rippled and then erupted, turning transparent and disappearing leaving a transparent floor. Mio found herself looking down through the ground.

"Yui?"

Yui was reaching for her from the other side of the ocean. They stared at each other through the transparent ground helplessly, both of them drowning. "No, Yui!" Mio felt tears start to drip down the side of her face as she clawed helplessly at the ground. The look of suffering on Yui's face was driving her crazy. Everything in Mio's being wanted to save at least Yui from this fate.

"Yui!" Mio sat up in her bed breathing hard from her nightmare. Her pupils slowly focused to the dim light and she realized that she had been restricting her breathing by sleeping face down in her pillow. "Moh," she sighed as she grabbed the pillow and chucked it at the wall. Her adrenaline was still pumping and her heart was still beating fast but now the only thing she could really remember was Yui reaching for her and suffocating. Mio brought up her knees and buried her face in her arms. She sighed heavily and glanced up at the clock. _Great, two hours too early to get up for school. _

Mio slowly leaned back onto her bed, straightening out her night gown and folding her hands on her stomach. She didn't really understand why but she had been dreaming about Yui for a long time now. _Ever since…_

Mio raised a hand to her lips and turned red, feeling her body flush.

It was the first kiss she had ever received and for some reason she couldn't forget about it. At first she tried very hard to, but every time she saw a movie where a couple would kiss or even happy couples walking around the city she would think about Yui. It had developed unconsciously into an infatuation that she could barely control. Ever since then, Mio couldn't imagine herself with anyone else.

The tall bassist sighed, her fingers still lightly grazing her own lips as she remembered how warm and moist Yui's lips were against hers. She remembered the pounding of her heart and the adrenaline flowing through her body as she received her first kiss, the warmth of her body pressed against hers and all of that out of nowhere.

_Jeez, Yui. How could you do this to me…_Mio raised her arm to rest over her eyes and sighed.

_Yui is really just cute though…_ Mio thought, thinking about her fellow band member's physical appearance. Yui had physically become less childish looking over the past year. Her facial features showed it the most; she had really become more mature looking. If it wasn't her facial features, it was definitely a change in her facial expressions. These days, her smile would be more secretive and mature although she still had her moments. When Yui played the guitar Mio felt the strings of her heart move. _When I play bass to Yui's songs, they make the sweetest sounds_... she thought. The more time Mio spent with Yui, the more she felt herself losing her inner battle to fight her feelings for her.

_If only she didn't kiss me then…_thought Mio. _Then I wouldn't have to be struggling with this burden._

Mio stared at the ceiling as a familiar crushing feeling pressed down into her chest. A girl being in love with a girl was something that wasn't supposed to happen in this world. Nobody would understand or accept it. Mio clenched her eyes as she tried to imagine what her parents or Ritsu would think. Yui would probably think she was a freak too and she would lose her friendship with all of the other band members..._except Mugi I guess._

Mio rolled around in her bed again; turning her face to the side and looking past the locks of long silky hair that fell over her face at the rest of her room. She brushed her hair back and started rubbing her head violently. "Ah jeez, I can't stand it."

She would never be able to admit her feelings for Yui. It was the most embarrassing secret of her life. Mio remembered with a sinking sensation that when she had tried to kiss Yui back, she had pushed her away. The memory tore at her heart. It was probably the biggest help to her fighting her feelings for Yui since last summer and now it was the biggest obstacle in telling her how she felt. Mio didn't even remember exactly why she tried to kiss her back. It was just so sudden and her heart was thumping and it was such a pleasant and warm sensation. _Ah, I was so caught up in the moment that I lost my head!_

Mio clenched her fists as she felt anger and embarrassment towards herself. "Jeez, and It could have easily been no big deal too," she said to herself aloud. "I'm so stupid."

It was sad but Mio had framed Yui's note and kept it secretly in her night stand drawer. She leaned over and pulled it out, her thumb tracing over the words and the cartoonish music notes scattered around the paper. _I do want to tell you but…_

Mio felt tears form at her eyes as frustration welled up inside her. She was scared of guys but she wished that she could have fallen in love with a guy instead. Then, no matter what, even if she did act on her feelings nobody would think she was a freak or hate her. She had always imagined herself getting married to a nice innocent young guy who would do sweet things for her but ever since she developed feelings for Yui, she had pushed those kinds of desires away. They even creeped her out. Mio thought about her conservative parents and sighed. _Yea, there's no way they'd understand. _

Many times, Mio had come close to telling Ritsu but it was such an embarrassing topic. Mio could tell Ritsu almost anything else but it was just too big and strange of a secret. _In the end I'm scared about losing you too…even though I know you'd probably stay…_

She sighed again and rolled off her bed, landing cat like on her hands and feet. She stood up quickly and brushed her bed head hair out of her face, raising her arms to stretch. _Oh yeah, it's Sunday so we don't have school. _

Mio felt a little brighter at the thought and walked over to her desk. She picked up her headphones and slung them around her neck, propping her elbow on the desk and leaning her cheek against her right palm as she skipped through the tracks on her mp3 player. There were several songs that she had grown addicted to recently and she started to tap her foot slowly as Ui-Mia kicked in. Several hours went by as Mio listened to various songs, writing in her lyrics notebook.

Mio slung the headphones on her ears and glanced at her private notebook. Sometimes when she was feeling frustrated she would write her feelings in there, or write play letters she would dream about sending. Just as she was about to open it…

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING_

Mio jumped in surprise as her alarm clock went off. It had gone off way too early and she ran over to shut it off. "Eh, why did I set it this early?" Mio looked up as her mind started to slowly crawl out of early morning mode. "Oh no, It's Ritsu's birthday today!" Mio slapped her forehead and quickly got dressed for the day. _Ugh…the hair would have to wait, _she thought as she slung on a baseball cap and ran out the door, grabbing her cellphone. If she hurried, she could stop by a couple stores and find something ideal for Ritsu. She glanced over at her cell phone to see she had missed a call from Yui.

_Ehhhh? At 1:30 in the morning? _

She frowned to herself as she ran through her hall to leave her house. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal and Mio felt a light sense of happiness.

* * *

Also this chapter was fun to write, I feel like it's slowly repairing all the holes in the story that had always bothered me since the last couple chapters.

Thanks for all the awesome and informative reviews.


	8. Chapter 8: Nurse Yui

"Jeez Onee-chan, you always sleep in late." Ui leaned against the door frame of Yui's room and sighed helplessly. "Oh well, at least you're allowed to for today." She giggled and left the room to prepare lunch as Yui rolled over in her bed, a small amount of drool leaking out from her mouth onto her pillow.

"Ehhhhhh?"

The giant teddy bear that was showing her how to cook in her dream suddenly started to vibrate and make ringing noises.

"Teddy-san, what's wrong" Yui asked worriedly. She ran to the teddy bear and lifted it up effortlessly, walking over to the next room to lay it down on a hospital bed. Nurse apparel suddenly appeared on her and she placed a thermometer into the teddy bear's mouth, clicking her tongue and squinting her eyes to look at the small numbers on the thermometer properly.

RIIIIING

RIIIIING

The teddy bear was definitely very sick! It was ringing!

Someone far away said "Hello? Ah, Mio chan? Yui is sleeping right now…do you want me to tell her to call you back when she wakes up?"

_Mio? _Yui blinked as the teddy bear took off its head revealing Mio in a bear costume. "Ah, Yui it was so hot in there!" The cute bassist looked up at Yui, sweat dripping down the sides of her face and her neck glistening from it. Her silky raven hair lay matted against her face and Yui brushed aside Mio's bangs to place her hand on her forehead. Yui shook her head sadly. "It's no good Mio, you're burning up! I think we have to go ahead with the operation."

"Eh?!" Mio shook her hands violently. "No! I'm perfectly fine!"

"Hey, I'm the nurse here Mio, I just want the best for you," said Yui, nodding wisely. The leading guitarist adjusted her nurse cap and slowly started unzipping the bear costume as Mio resisted weakly. "Yui, I'm telling you I'm fine…"

Yui blushed lightly as she slowly revealed more and more of Mio's body. Underneath the bear costume she was wearing a white bra and matching laced panties. Yui admired the beautiful curves of Mio's body as she finished unzipping the teddy bear costume.

Mio stopped resisting and lay there blushing heavily, lifting her hands to cover her breasts. "Mio, I think we're going to have to check your temperature again in a different way. Can you turn around and get on your knees?"

"But nurse Yui, Its too embarrassing…" Mio said meekly, looking up at Yui with pleading eyes.

"It can't be helped Mio! You're very sick. If you don't listen to me then you might die!" Mio blushed and silently complied, getting on her hands and knees and then slowly leaning down to rest her head on the operating table's pillow. She turned her head sideways and looked over at Yui. "Be gentle Yui…" she whispered before closing her eyes and burying her face into the pillow to hide her face.

Yui raised a hand to her mouth and stared, it was a visual overload for her…and probably anyone else. Mio kneeled there helplessly waiting for her check up, her undergarments clinging tightly to her beautiful body and her skin shining from the sweat accumulated inside the teddy bear costume. Yui looked at Mio's bottom, the thin white panties semi transparent from sweat and pulled out her thermometer again, shaking it with her left hand. It had to be done, Mio was deathly sick and Yui was the only one around to save her.

"Onee-chan! Wake up already! Lunch is ready...Oh no! Your nose is bleeding! Wait for a second Onee-chan, I'll be right back!" exclaimed Ui as she walked back into the room to wake up her older sister.

Yui blinked groggily and then jumped in surprise. "Oh no! UI!!! UIIIII! My nose is bleeding!" Ui rushed back into the room with a handful of napkins, running over to Yui and gently wiping away some of the nosebleed from her older sister's chin and mouth.

Yui looked up at Ui as she gently patted away the nose bleed. "Thanks Ui!" said Yui cheerfully, smiley brightly at Ui. "No problem Onee-chan… here wipe this off yourself so I can throw these pillow sheets into the laundry.

"Moh, Onee-chan. You need to get more sleep or you'll get more nose bleeds like that," said Ui matter of factly as she removed Yui's pillow case and headed for the laundry room. "I'll be back in a second, you should go wash your face and brush your teeth. Lunch is ready too so come to the living room when you're done."

Yui grinned at Ui sheepishly and stood up to head for the bathroom. _Ui is so responsible…_

Everyday Yui thanked God for giving her a younger sister like Ui. She was smart, pretty, cute, and very loving. When she heard stories of other families with unhappy relationships between sisters, it always baffled her.

"Oh, and Mio called about 15 minutes earlier, she said she'd send you a text!" came Ui's distant shout from the hallway. Yui dabbed her nose with the napkin as she ran back into her room. She picked her phone off of the night stand and flipped it open.

_One new message…Mio..._

_

* * *

_

Hey Yui! I'm going to the shopping district to buy a present for Ritsu. Do you want to come? It is her birthday today =^-^=. Call me if you can come out.

* * *

Yui blinked, a childish grin slowly spreading across her face. She didn't know it was Ritsu's birthday today, the drummer hadn't told anyone about it. "Think you can escape from me that easily do you Ritsu?" murmured Yui as she quickly texted Mio back.

* * *

I'll head over there in thirty minutes. Want to get some cake at the cake house? ^O^~

* * *

Yui flipped her phone, closing it and headed to the bathroom again. She looked up at the bathroom mirror and moved the napkin away. No blood came out and Yui sighed in relief, throwing away the napkin into the toilet. The guitarist turned the water on in the sink and washed her face, squinting her eyes shut to avoid getting soap into her eyes. One time she had accidentally opened her eyes while washing her face with soap and it had been very painful.

_Ah, the cool water feels so nice_ thought Yui as she grabbed a towel and dried herself off. The phone vibrated again and Yui flipped it open to check it.

* * *

_I don't want to gain weight -___- but I'll keep you company. Call me when you get here. _

_

* * *

  
_

Yui snapped her cell phone shut again and grabbed a comb to fix her hair. She had ridiculously wild hair in the mornings.

"Are you okay Onee-chan?" Ui reentered the bathroom and smiled as Yui got the comb stuck in a knot. "Here, let me take care of that."

Yui looked at their reflections in the mirror as Ui gently untangled her hair, combing it down. "You know, I'm never going to be able to survive without you if you keep babying me like this Ui."

"That's the plan Onee-chan, I think we should always be together." Ui replied nonchalantly, pulling back Yui's bangs and applying her older sister's trade mark yellow bands.

"I can do this by myself, it would just take longer," huffed Yui, making her stubborn face at Ui.

Ui giggled and Yui felt the warm feeling of making your loved one's happy. "Today is Ritsu's birthday so I'm going to the shopping district to meet up with Mio."

"Okay, grab something to eat before you leave and I'll see you when you come back home," replied Ui

"Okay. What are you going to do Ui?" asked Yui, taking her eyes off their reflection to look her younger sister eye to eye. "Actually, Azusa called me and asked if I wanted to go to the movies with her and some of our other friends. I think I'll go," she replied, giving Yui one last look before leaving the bathroom. "I'll see you tonight then."

Yui followed Ui out of the bathroom and ran to her closest to quickly change. She glanced over at her desk where Mio's love note was safely hidden and blushed. She hesitated and then ran over to her desk to pocket it. She wanted to read it again on the train.

The young guitarist sat down at their dining table and started to wolf down her lunch.

_I wonder what I should say to her… _

_

* * *

  
_

A/N: Thanks for the informative reviews and messages!

"I've read that some schools started to give one Saturday per month be a day off since 1992. About 10 years later, it's a couple of Saturdays per month. This seems to mostly apply to public schools though. Since the school the five girls go to seem to be a prestigious, private school - they most likely don't do this." -Lil Donkey

You're awesome. Changed the day to Sunday, its an easy fix and doesn't affect the story much.

Also, yeah it's an all girl's school. I thought because of the culture fair episode (ep 6: there were some guys waiting in line for the haunted house) that there were guys in the school but after thinking about it… all the people in the school minus some teachers are girls in every other episode. Fixed that also.

I was originally trying to alternate points of view between the 5 characters and still bring a Mio x Yui story but I'm going to abort that and just do whatever from now on.

I'm suffering, this story is so hard to write. T.T. I just realized I left out Azusa in the fast food chapter. I'll fix later, exhausted from writing this chapter.

Thanks Trace, KoSSa, and Outcast XIV and especially Lil-Donkey. :]


	9. Chapter 9: Breeze

Ritsu opened the front door and stepped out, yawning and stretching her arms out. She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, opening her eyes to greet the afternoon sky. _Damn it feels good to sleep in on your Birthday!_ she thought happily.

"Close the door Ritsu! You'll let the bugs in!"

"It's MY birthday Mom, YOU close it!" she yelled back.

"Ritsu, You are standing right next to that door. If you don't close that door right now I will spank you one time for every day you've been alive!"

Ritsu quickly closed the door _just in case_ and leaned against it as a cool breeze blew by.

_Ah, my first present of the day_ Ritsu thought contently as she enjoyed the cool feeling of the wind brushing against her skin. She enjoyed the way it tickled her bare stomach and lifted up her light blue tank top slightly to expose more skin to the air. It was perfect outside, it took her mind off of everything, except …

Ritsu stared across her front yard her eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered all the times she had seen Mio right in front of where she was standing.

"_Hey Ritsu, want to go to school together?" _

"_Hey! Ritsu we're late! What are you doing in your night clothes still?!"_

"_I was so scared Ritsu, don't just run off like that!" _

"_heheh, Look what I got Ritsu!" _

"_Hey Mrs. Tainaka, is Ritsu home?" _

"_RITSU, How dare you say that to me!" _

_Ritsu, I heard what happened. Can I come in?"_

"_Ritsu…Happy Birthday." _

Ritsu grinned. Mio had visited her house more times than she could count…so many times that if she tried to imagine Mio standing in front of her right now it would be no problem. Mio had been on those front porch steps many different times on many different days. Ritsu sighed as she thought about her long time friend. _God, when did you become so gorgeous…_ The drum player blinked as she realized that she was on a dangerous path with her thinking. She remembered reading Mio's love note for Yui, the beating of her heart as she realized it might not be a joke, the hot flash of emotion and …jealousy?

"I'm not that kind of girl…" Ritsu said to herself flatly.. _And I refuse to get angry on my birthday so that's that._ she added in thought. She had already spent enough alone time stressing over it and it had never led to anywhere. Even if she was physically attracted to Mio, their friendship was too important to risk for something selfish like that. Ritsu had suspected Mio might be into girls from an early age, the dark eyed beauty had always been afraid of guys and if she ever had a crush on a guy, it was one of those extremely feminine rock stars. _But if you had to pick someone why wouldn't you pick me? _

She shifted her weight to go back inside the house but another memory, one of playing in the snow with Mio when they were in elementary school caught her mind and she ran heard first into the closed door.

"Ow! what the hell you stupid little !!!!' Ritsu yelled angrily as she rubbed her head.

"What did you say to me?' came a muffled bellow from inside. "Nothing Mom I was talking to the door. I knew there was a reason I didn't close it!" she shouted back as her head started to smart.

Ritsu stepped back inside to face her mom who was sitting on a coach in the living room, reading a newspaper. Ritsu's eyes slowly adjusted to the dimmer light and she placed her hands on her hips. "Mom, I'm going to open up all these windows. Its my birthday and its way too dark in here"

"Go ahead honey, I don't care." replied her mom absentmindedly.

Ritsu started heading for the nearest window to open the blinds. "Oh, and Mio's coming over tonight to sleep over."

"Okay. You know she's welcome anytime." Ritsu's mom replied without looking up.

"I also plan on being a total menace the whole day."

"Try me." A deadly aura was radiating from the living room that made Ritsu freeze and the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Okay…I take that last one back."

There were several moments of silence between them while Ritsu slowly went around the house, opening the blinds of the windows.

After she finished, the young drummer grinned at her mom and plopped down on the couch next to her, giving her a warm hug. "So, where's my present?"

"You're a big girl, you don't need a present on your birthday anymore."

"Mom! Are you serious? Getting big doesn't mean you stop getting presents! Mio still gets presents from her parents! Are you serious?"

Ritsu's mom adjusted her reading glasses and turned the page of the newspaper, her face devoid of any emotion. "Stop being a baby Ritsu, you're a grown up now…and when's the last time you bought a decent present for me?"

"No way. I've always gotten presents on my birthday. Today would suck if I didn't get any presents. Please can I have one?" Ritsu pleaded, making puppy eyes at her mom, ignoring the last question. "I mean, look at how cute I am."

Ritsu's mom's expression finally cracked a little bit.

"Just for the record, the reason I broke because you said you were cute and I thought that was ironic." said Ritsu's mom slowly. "Mom!"

Ritsu's eyes lit up and she broke out into a huge grin. "Jeez, I know you have something, stop playing around with me. I know it has to be something big from how secretive you're being!" Ritsu chastised herself as she felt herself glow from excitement. She felt like jumping up and down in front of her mom until she told her and _really, what grade am I in now?_ _I am way too excitable. _"So tell me, what is it?"

"Well…" said Ritsu's mom hesitantly. "Its not much, you have a new set of drum sticks from me and Dad convinced me to go on an overnight date with him so you can have the house to yourself tonight. I guess you could invite your club over to celebrate."

Ritsu realized that she really started to jump up and down. "Hahah yes! You two are the best parents."

Ritsu's mom could only shake her head in worry and folded her newspaper, standing up to head upstairs to her room. "By the way If you invite any guys over and I find out about it, you are toast."

Ritsu felt the blood curdling aura of destruction from her mom again and shivered. "I know Mom, I won't." she replied shakily as she watched her mom walk upstairs. Ritsu swiftly pulled out her cell phone and grinned. There were plans to make.

* * *

A/N: -___- Next chapter is almost done.


	10. Chapter 10: Breathe

"Doesn't this cake look sooo good Mio chan?" asked Yui, leaning over the glass of a cake display and pointing excitedly.

Mio looked at Yui and let herself sigh in relief. Yui was finally somewhat back to her normal self.

If Mio didn't know any better, she would have thought that Yui had been putting the moves on her and executing them with deadly precision and skill ever since they first met up.

The innocent way Yui would hug her arm and lean against her, the seemingly accidental brushing of their hands, the seductive way she would lean in to whisper in Mio's ear about nonchalant topics.

It wasn't just those things, Yui's eyes would glow every time she looked at Mio and she was excessively clingy. It had been a stressful two hours of walking around the mall looking for Ritsu's birthday present with Yui flirting with her… and it had been impossible to not get embarrassed despite Mio's very best efforts.

Every time Mio got embarrassed it seemed to increase the frequency of Yui's little attacks. Not that I'm not enjoying this…but something is definitely up... the taller bassist thought, looking at Yui suspiciously. The shorter girl's eyes were transfixed by the cake and Mio smiled to herself. "Hey Yui!"

Mio held in laughter as Yui's head turned slightly towards Mio to face her but not far enough to take her eyes off the cake. Yui gave up and turned back towards the cake. "What is it?"

"Yui!"

The shorter girl hesitated and then breathed out slowly to take in the image of the cake one last time before turning her head to look up to Mio. "Doesn't this cake look good? Lets eat this cake Mio! I want to feed it to you."

"…Yui, what's going on with you today?" asked Mio. Now that she had some time to think about it, Yui had never been this touch-y feel-y with her. There were some exceptions like the time she was obsessed with her calloused fingertips and once in a while she would hold her hands when she was excited but today was over the top.

"What do you mean Mio?" asked Yui blinking and slowly standing to look up at the taller girl. She adjusted the straps of her white tank top and folded her arms.

Mio glanced down at Yui. She seemed genuine, like she really didn't understand why she had asked a perfectly reasonable question…Mio found herself spacing out as Yui's cute puffy lips distracted her for a moment.

"Isn't it obvious Mio? I was trying really hard too." huffed Yui, crossing her arms and looking away in mock anger. "Hmph, you don't even care about how I feel…or how hard I tried."

Mio stared at her in silence. It doesn't make sense Yui, what are you talking about?

Yui looked at Mio, crossing her arms. "you still don't get it Mio?"

"No, I really don't." Yui blinked, all trace of anger disappearing from her face. "Eh? I didn't think you were the dense type Mio."

"I'm not…" replied Mio, shaking her head. What's going on? Yui paused, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Okay, here I will make it clearer for you." Yui grabbed Mio's hand and started running. Mio yelled out in surprise and grabbed Ritsu's birthday present bag as she was dragged away at Yui's top speed…which fortunately, Mio could easily keep up with. Still, she was one bundle of high strung energy. "Where are we going Yui?" asked Mio. Yui kept running without looking back and Mio felt herself growing slightly tired as they ran down two flights of stairs. "Yui, come on this is dangerous," whispered Mio as they barely avoided running into a small group of people on the first floor. "No. I don't want to." pouted Yui in mid stride as she tightened her grip on Mio's hand and ran out the mall door.

They hit the streets and Mio started to pace her breathing, watching the cement fly beneath her. She unintentionally started to gain on Yui and almost passed her without realizing it. Yui clenched her eyes shut and ran with all her strength to stay in front of Mio and the bassist found herself laughing. Yui is so cute. Mio let Yui take the lead again and followed along, her mind racing as well. She had no idea what Yui was up to and why it had to involve such strenuous exercise. They slowed down slightly as Yui got tired but she showed no signs of stopping and Mio recognized that they were nearing the school. "Jeez Yui, If I knew we were going to run this far I would have started walking a long time ago." Mio huffed out as they stopped briefly to sneak in through the fake iron bars set up by some seniors in the past. "Did you bring Sawa chan's copied key?" Yui quickly unlocked a side door to the school and grabbed Mio's hand again. "We're almost there."

Both girls were breathing hard and drenched by sweat by the time they made it up to the band room. They fell down on the couch, breathing hard.

"I'm so *huff* tired. If only we had *huff* eaten the cake before this I would have been fine."

Mio glanced over at Yui bewildered. Even now the girl was thinking about that cake. "Want to *huff* tell me what *huff* all of this is about?"

"...Mio...This is my answer. Pay attention okay?" said Yui as she pressed a surprised Mio down onto her back. Mio felt her back hit the comfortable cushions of the coach and looked up just in time to see Yui's face descending towards hers, her brown hair matted and blocking out the room's lights. A soft warm pair of lips were pressed against hers and Mio opened her eyes wide. They're so soft… thought Mio as she slowly closed her eyes.

Her mind suddenly registered what was happening as Yui continued to kiss her, both of the girls still panting in between breaths. Yui…I…ah, I can't think. Mio could taste a little bit of salt from Yui's sweat as Yui parted her mouth slightly and tilted her head as she kissed Mio, pressing her lips against the bassist's, moisture from her sweat and saliva wetting Mio's lips as well. Mio let her mind go blank, her senses overloaded with strange and new feelings.

It was the first time she had made out with anybody but Yui seemed to know what she was doing. Yui's body was light against hers and she could feel warmth radiate from Yui's body… she was burning up underneath those thin layers of clothes. Mio gasped again, still winded from their run and Yui gently put her tongue into Mio's slightly parted mouth, licking her tongue. Mio felt a shiver run up her spine as she realized that Yui tongue had entered her mouth, her hands wrapping behind Mio's back to pull their bodies closer together. The dark haired beauty let out an unintentional moan as she awkwardly flicked back with her tongue, not exactly sure what to do. She tilted her head and sucking in another short gasp of air as Yui closed the gap between their mouths again, pressing her now very moist lips against hers. It was a strange new form of pleasure and I could get addicted to this but at this rate…

"Yui! If you keep kissing me like that I'll suffoca-"

Yui promptly kissed her again, this time gently so their lips barely made contact and pulled back to look Mio in the eyes. It was the first time they had made eye contact since they started kissing and suddenly Mio stared back into them, completely dazed and out of breath. Her eyes were warm, her body was warm, and Yui's gentle yet passionate attack on her was taking its toll on Mio. They stared into each other's eyes for several moments before Mio felt the chill of the school air against the sweat on her body. Yui slowly lifted off of Mio and sat on the edge of the cushion. Mio sat up afterward, still dazed.

"Well, are you not going to say anything Mio?" asked Yui, her voice shaking. Mio noticed that Yui's body was trembling slightly too and her breath was still coming out kind of quickly.

"Ano…" Mio felt a wave of emotion hit her, she had suffered for so long and hoped with so little hope for Yui to return her feelings. Now abruptly out of nowhere, Yui was fulfilling some of her embarassing fantasies…

This is real…isn't it? I'm breathing hard, I'm sweating, it was too real for this to be …

Mio raised a hand to her cheek and pulled it, pinching down slightly. Ow.

Yui giggled and then hugged Mio spontaneously, straddling her and pushing her back in a sitting position on the couch. Yui's body was light and for once, Mio had to look up into Yui's eyes.

"I like you Mio. I want to be your girl." she said softly, an embarrassed flush appearing on her face. "I don't really understand how I came to feel this way but when I found out that you liked me …"

Mio shook her head. "Was I really that obvious? I was trying hard to hide it too but…you're right Yui. I like you a lot."

Yui shook her head and leaned forward, nuzzling Mio's nose with hers. "No, it was your love note silly."

Mio suddenly turned a dark shade of red and stood up, pushing Yui off of her. "What? I never sent you that. Oh my…God…Its so embarrassing." Mio felt like running but she was still overwhelmed by Yui's affectionate attack and her mind was still spinning. She sat down, unable to feel any real anger and looked back at Yui, a vulnerable expression on her face. "Do you really like me Yui? This is not a joke right?" Mio felt tears come to her eyes as she said those words. If Yui was just having fun with her then she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I found out just yesterday but once I did, I think I realized that I always liked you in some ways, I just never thought it'd be possible. After finding out how you felt I couldn't stop thinking about you Mio…You kept me up all night…" Yui looked down and blushed as she finished her statement, realizing that the last part could be misinterpreted.

"Where did you find that letter Yui? I kept it hidden in one of my notebook's secret compartments, nobody should ever have found it except…" Mio blinked as she realized what probably happened. Ritsu! I can't believe you would do this to me…but…

As Yui leaned in for another kiss, Mio felt a strange warmth fill her chest. She had never felt quiet this happy in this kind of way before. The one she loved was loving her back and that blew away all of her worries and doubts. It was surreal, too good to be true but…it was. Isn't it? Yui…

Yui smiled happily, wrapping her arms around Mio's neck pressing her body closer. Her lips brushed against Mio's ear and she blew into it. "AHHH! Yui!" Mio desperately tried to escape as Yui clamped down on her, licking her earlobe. "Yu….Yuii..Ahhh, stop it… Ahhhhn…" Mio cried out, desperately trying to get away. She turned her head from side to side and Yui was forced to give up after a couple more attempts. "Heheh, Mio I don't think I'll ever be able to let go of you now…my heart is pounding so loud…"

Mio looked up at Yui, her heart pounding as well.

"Here, let me play you a song Mio. I wrote it a long time ago for no one in particular but, I think in my heart I was always thinking about you." Yui rolled off of Mio and headed into the band's storage room to get her guitar. An overwhelmed Mio followed timidly at first but as excitement filled her she ran, hugging Yui from behind. "Yui, um…Can I…"

Yui leaned back into Mio's hug and smiled, it felt surprisingly nice. She tilted her head back to look at Mio and then blinked in surprise as Mio gently pressed her lips against hers. "I love you Yui."

Several hours later, Mio pulled back from Yui's lips. They had moved back onto the couch and had been making out nonstop since then. Mio felt like she had gotten a lot better at it but now, a different sense of reality was striking her. "Oh…no…Ritsu!" Mio ran to her handbag and pulled out her phone, staring in horror as she scrolled down through several pages of missed calls. In her excitement, she had forgotten all about it. "Oh no, what time is it…Ah, I'm such an idiot!"Without her noticing it, it had already become 9 PM.

Yui eyes widened as she realized what happened. "I'm sorry Mio, this is all my fault…" she began but Mio shook her head, standing up to hug Yui. "Its okay Yui, Its my fault but it should be no big deal. I've been friends with Ritsu for a long time. Do…you want to go together and see her? Maybe it'll cheer her up." Mio smiled, sure that even if she did show up a bit late, with Yui there Ritsu should be much happier. Normally she would have been scared of the school at night but when Yui's hand holding hers, she couldn't think about anything else.


	11. Chapter 11: Happy Birthday

It seemed like they had almost teleported to Ritsu's house for Yui, the long walk had consisted of spacing out and thinking about the fact that for the first time in her life, she had someone to love and be loved back by…romantically. Occasionally she would snap out of it to playfully swing Mio's hand or to lean in and kiss her on the cheek when there was nobody around. Mio would blush and tell her to stop…_She seems so preoccupied too. _Yui thought, tilting her head sideways and looking up at the taller girl. Mio's raven hair and porcelain skin glistened under a backdrop of beautiful night sky, the moon illuminating and casting shadows over her features. Yui noticed that occasionally she would peek over at her and then turn her head away embarrassed, or drop her chin slightly broodingly. _She must be worried about Ritsu…_

Truthfully, Yui wasn't sure how long Ritsu had been waiting for them and she felt guilty. If she thought about it, she wasn't technically invited but they were close enough by now to visit each other whenever they felt like it. Often, it was Ritsu who was on "her team" in group debates and she was one of the sweetest girls Yui knew. Mio had said she told Ritsu she would be there around 5:00 PM and it was getting pretty late.

_I wonder if Ritsu's had her party by herself…at least I have a present for her_ Yui thought, cheering up slightly. Her sister had given her money earlier to buy Ritsu a new black and white hair band that had a music note on one end and a black cat on the other end. It was sitting along with Mio's panda alarm clock in her shopping bag.

"Oi, Ritsu! Open up!" Mio called, knocking on the door and ringing it several times. She had let go of Yui's hand several minutes ago and Yui was missing the warmth of her hand.

The guitarist tried calling too, "Ritsu! We're here, open up!"

After several minutes without a response, Mio glanced over at Yui, her expression filled with worry. "Yui, all the lights are off in the house. What if something is wrong?"

Yui looked back at Mio, starting to imagine the possibilities. No doubt Mio was probably imagining much worse than she was. "Maybe she just went to sleep?" suggested Yui, looking over at Mio.

Suddenly the door creaked open and both girls jumped. "Ritsu!" Mio cried, "we were worried because all the lights were off. We thought-." Mio suddenly froze in mid sentence and stared at Ritsu.

Ritsu grinned and gave them peace sign. "Hey guys, glad you could make it. Come in, come in. I was just about to go to sleep but I made a bunch of instant food earlier. I'll go warm it up for y…"

Mio grabbed Ritsu's hand as she turned away and bowed her head. "Gomen, ne. Ritsu. I didn't mean to forget just a lot of things happened…and…I need to talk to you in private."

Ritsu pulled her hand away from Mio, maybe slightly too quickly. Yui finally recognized that something might be wrong with their drummer friend.

As Mio pulled Ritsu away, Ritsu glanced over at Yui and smiled weakly. _Were you crying Ritsu? _wondered Yui, suddenly feeling another wave of guilt. The drummer's eyes seemed slightly red and puffier than normal and her cheeks were flushed as well. The house was still creepily dark, it didn't seem like a birthday party at all. Yui decided to go look for the lights.

"So my parents bought a cake for us, you should see it Mio. I'm sure Yui would love it too." Ritsu's voice was barely audible because they had walked into a different room but Yui could still hear them talk faintly. She flipped on several of the lights before creeping over and placed her ear against the crack in the door. Curiosity always got the better of her.

"Ritsu, you can't hide it from me. I can't believe you've been drinking!" Mio exclaimed.

There was a slight pause and then, "I thought you weren't going to come…I called you so many times…I was really worried you know." Ritsu's voice was flat.

"I'm sorry Ritsu, I'll make it up to you..." Mio's voice was soft. _She probably looks so cute right now_ thought Yui.

"No, its okay. I'm just glad you guys are here now."

Yui peaked through the crack in the door to see Ritsu leaning against the wall. Mio was standing in front of her, partially blocking Yui's view of her.

Ritsu looked up at Mio and seemed to have cheered up considerably. "Jeez, anyways. Happy Birthday Ritsu." Mio leaned in to hug her friend but Ritsu suddenly shrunk up against the wall, pushing Mio away. A surprised Mio fell down and looked up at her friend in shock.

Ritsu put a hand to her mouth, surprised at herself and ran over to Mio, kneeling by her and placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "Are you okay Mio? I didn't mean to push you that hard. It's just…I don't know what's gotten into me."

Mio opened her eyes slowly. "Owww…No…It's okay" They looked at each other for a few moments and both of them broke out into laughter. "Jeez, you smell like cigarettes Ritsu." Mio complained, wiping a tear from her eyes. "I should have figured that's what you'd end up doing if I wasn't around to stop you."

"It was just one, and I was going to drink more but thankfully you showed up to save me." Ritsu leaned in towards Mio and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for coming Mio…You know…originally I wanted it to just be us two like old times but…I'm glad you brought Yui. Things must have worked out for you two huh?"

Mio blushed and then despite herself, smacked Ritsu in the back of the head. "That reminds me, you found that note and gave it to Yui without asking me... Didn't you?" Ritsu looked down for a couple minutes, rubbing her head. "Ow, you're the same as always Mio. At first it was just a prank but I guess I should have thought about it more. Gomen." Ritsu looked up at Mio apologetically. "It worked though right?"

Mio nodded, blushing slightly and Ritsu smiled.

_Ehhh? Mio never meant to give me that letter? Than I must have seemed a little bit crazy. _Yui blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed but quickly recovered, remembering Mio's warm moist lips. _It doesn't matter, she's worth it…_

"Well, come on. Yui probably already ate all of your cake by now." said Mio as the two girls started to head for the door. Ritsu laughed and Yui suddenly backpedaled, tripping and landing on her butt.

Ritsu opened the door and the two fellow band members looked down at Yui in surprise, who quickly jumped back on her feet.

"You have a nice carpet Ritsu, my house has wooden floors." she said abruptly, changing the mood.

"That's just like you Yui." said Ritsu, laughing and affectionately leaning in towards her. "Congratulations, I'm happy for you two."

Yui blushed, it was the first time anyone had called attention to her newfound relationship with Mio and it made her happy. "Thanks Ritsu, come to the living room we got your presents."

Ritsu nodded and then suddenly started to head back into the kitchen. "Hey Ritsu, where are you going?" asked Mio as she paused in mid stride.

"Oh… no where. Just one sec." Ritsu called, disappearing behind the corner of the wall. Mio's eyes widened and she suddenly ran after her. "Ritsu, put that bottle down!"

"It's my birthday Mio! I just want one more sip."

"No, we're too young to be drinking, Ritsu! Come on stop… besides that's from your parents alcohol cabinet. They would kill you if they found out. " Mio pleaded.

"We're going to graduate soon and be adults anyway Mio. Its not a big deal, just one more sip."

Yui heard the faint sound of chugging and Mio yelling Ritsu's name. She peaked over into the kitchen where Ritsu was chugging a bottle of sake as Mio weakly tried to stop her.

Ritsu suddenly coughed, spilling some of the sake onto her clothes and onto the kitchen floor. "Yech, this stuff is so bitter." she complained, stumbling slightly. "I'm a champ though right Mio. Want some?" She offered the bottle to Mio who grabbed it and put it off to the side.

Yui ran into the middle of the kitchen, stopping dramatically. "Ritsu! I want to try some!"

"You stay out of this." Mio said sternly but after several moments her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "Okay, we can drink, it is your birthday after all."

"Yatta!" exclaimed Ritsu. "Ah, I feel nice, come on Yui. I'll pour you some."

Mio followed her helplessly to the living room where Ritsu went with several glasses and her parent's bottle of sake. She stumbled as she sat down but caught herself, barely saving the glasses from breaking on the table.

"Are you okay Ritsu? Here, I'll take care of the pouring." Yui said, leaning over the table to grab the glasses and the sake. _Oh…shoot. I forgot to tell Ui where I'm at. _She thought about her sister frantically calling the police and running around the neighborhood looking for her and then sighed. "Hey guys, I forgot to tell Ui where I was. You know how she worries about me. Ritsu can I use your house phone? My cell phone is out of batteries."

Ritsu nodded and pointed into the hallway. "Its down that hallway and to the left Yui. You cant miss it."

"Hold on, let me get the cake from the refrigerator." said Ritsu, running back into the kitchen and returning shortly with a small cake. She placed the cake on the table and sat down next to Mio, rubbing her hands together. "Doesn't it look good? Think we should do the whole candle and singing thing?"

Mio laughed. "If you want Ritsu." Ritsu leaned over to grab the bottle of sake, swigging it twice before leaning her head on Mio's shoulder, her eyes lidded.

"…Mio…I'm so glad you're here.…"

Ritsu leaned in closer and nuzzled Mio's neck with her nose, making her blush and lean away. "Hey…Ritsu, what are you doing?"

_She smells so good_ thought Ritsu, her mind hazy as she wrapped her arms around Mio's waist from the side, placing her lips against Mio's neck and blowing on it gently.

She had drunken a lot of sake faster than normal and it was starting to hit her hard. Her head was spinning and Mio's scent and soft warm skin was intoxicating.

"Ritsu!" exclaimed Mio, shaking from the warm breathing on her neck. She started to push her away but as Mio started to resist, Ritsu's hug tightened and she parted her mouth, licking Mio's neck with her tongue and then pressing down to suck on it gently.

Mio's body started shaking as she moaned out loud from the sensation. It caused a strange sense of pleasure to run down her body and caused her skin to flush.

…_Yui could come back anytime. I can't let her see this. _The thought of Yui seeing this on the same night they started dating made Mio panic and she grabbed Ritsu more forcefully, trying to push her away.

"Ritsu, …stop...please" Mio breathed out shakily, but Ritsu overpowered her, pushing Mio to the ground, kissing a circle on her neck and then slowly kissing and licking down her collar bone. Flashbacks of Ritsu started to pour into Mio's head as she weakly resisted, the skin where Ritsu was nibbling felt like it was burning up.

_An image of Ritsu standing in front of her, arms bruised up from a scuffle. "Only I can make fun of you Mio. I'll beat all those other kids up!"_

"_We're best friends right? I'll always protect you." _

"_Hahah, and then the car ran over the--never mind."_

_Ritsu with dirt on her face at eight years old. "I brought you flowers Mio." _

"_Mio, lets start a band together! I'll play the drums. You'll play the bass." _

Mio squirmed, Ritsu's hot breath and warm tongue was on the sensitive skin of her upper breasts. She had pulled down on the fabric of Mio's tank top exposing her bra on her right side. The stretching fabric was putting pressure on Mio's right tank top strap but that feeling was almost nothing compared to the intense pleasure from Ritsu's mouth.

_Kami-sama, save me. _

Ritsu's right hand had reached under her skirt and was trailing slowly down her sensitive thigh towards her panties. The sensations were starting to make Mio feel light headed and dizzy and she squirmed. "Ritsu!" cried Mio desperately, squeezing her thighs together to prevent Ritsu's hand from reaching its destination. She started to push the ground with her feet, sliding on her back. _She must have remembered everything from that porno we watched in middle school…_thought Mio in horror. She never imagined it would feel this good and what might happen next scared her. _I can't let this happen. Yui's here too. _

Ritsu smiled cat like, her eyes clouded from the alcohol and slowly prowled after Mio on all fours. Mio stared at Ritsu dazed, she had never seen her look so predator like. Usually, Ritsu's warm, trusting expression would melt away all of Mio's worries but her look right now was making Mio's body quake in fear and excitement.

_I'm so weak. I'm being hunted and I can't even do anything about it…My heart already belongs to Yui. _

"Ritsu…" Tears were coming to Mio's eyes as she sat up to face her best friend.

_My heart already belongs to her._

Ritsu grabbed Mio's legs, spreading them apart and dipped her head, kissing the insides of her thighs.

_You're drunk…No, Ritsu…. My heart already belongs to her. _

Mio grabbed Ritsu's head, trying to hold her back and started to breath in short gasps as she felt Ritsu's warm mouth against her inner thigh, her hot tongue making its way closer and closer to her...

"Ritsu stop!"

_My heart belongs to…_

_

* * *

  
_

_A/N: uh oh. :D_

_I'm not going to write any new chapters for a while. I'm going to spend the next couple writing sessions revising the chapters and fixing grammatical and story/plot line mistakes. _

_It's a pain for everyone else to go back and read things over so I'll keep a change log in future chapters detailing any major story revisions. _

_any angst would be out of place in the anime but this story imposes some unusual circumstances on these characters anyway so...deal with it :D_

_Thanks for the reviews, you guys help to keep me going. _

edit: Revised :D

~lolsama


	12. Chapter 12: Glass Heart

Her skin was warm and slightly salty. Ritsu could feel Mio's skin quivering as her lips brushed against it and she could feel her adrenaline pumping, Mio's reactions to her lips were so addicting…

Something in the back of Ritsu's mind banged a symbol.

"_Mio…_ _don't cry…"_

Ritsu felt a chill go through her body as the conscious part of her brain started screaming at her. The sound of Mio crying sent alarm bells off in her head.

_What am I doing?_

Ritsu felt a sick nausea wash over here and a shocking numbness in her brain as she slowly thought about what was happening. She could barely remember the last time she heard Mio crying like this and it was killing her. Every second of listening to her best friend's heart wrenching sobs felt like a hammer being driven into her chest.

"Oh, Mio…" Ritsu's eyes widened, her body still flushed from excitement and alcohol but now it was as if somebody had dumped a large bucket of ice water over her head. "Don't cry Mio." Ritsu begged helplessly, pulling herself up to look at Mio's face.

Seeing Mio's beautiful eyes filled with tears, her eye liner smeared and her soft trembling lips made something snap inside Ritsu. An iron hammer stroke her glass heart and it was breaking painfully.

The amount of passion and lust Ritsu had been consumed by was suddenly converted into regret and rage, and then multiplied many times over as her mind started racing.

Ritsu reached a hand to her cheek and felt it pulse at her touch, the skin soft and slightly swollen. She didn't even remember getting hit.

_What the fuck is wrong with me? _Hot tears were coming to Ritsu's eyes as she became overwhelmed with waves of self hatred. It wasn't like one of the things she could say 'Just kidding!' and play it off as a joke, she had really just sexually assaulted her best friend.

_She's crying because of me…_ _Mio is…_

"Mio, I'm sorry." she whispered. Her vision was still a little blurry and her head was spinning but her sense of concern was holding her there, immobile. Mio lifted her head slightly, wiping away her tears and tried to smile…but it was a broken smile

"R-ritsu. I…I'm sorry…"

_What is this? I'm the one that should be sorry. _

Ritsu shook her head. "Mio, I think I'm going crazy I don't know what's wrong with me. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you."

_Lately, I've been thinking about you more than I should, since when did I feel this way? _wondered Ritsu, covering her face with her hands. _And now its too late… . _

Ritsu heard a series of rapid footsteps and a small gust of air as Yui slid in front of her, lifting up Mio's chin and firing off a rapid burst of concerned questions.

Despite herself, she felt a little bit of resentment and jealousy well up as Mio leaned against Yui's chest, wiping her tears against her shirt and hugging her tightly. "What's wrong Mio? What happened?" Yui was saying.

Ritsu leaned back and backpedaled a little bit before standing up, stumbling towards the hallway. _Mio is …dating Yui…_She almost ran into the wall but caught herself and started walking towards her room. She felt herself fall off balance, and immediately stood back up, frustrated.

Ritsu took a deep breath, clearing her mind and slowly made it to her door, using the wall as support. The next thing she knew, she was fumbling with the door knob to her room.

To Ritsu's surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

_A seven year old Mio grabbed her hand. "Don't go…" _

Mio grabbed her hand. "Don't go."

Ritsu looked back. In her nostalgia and drunken state she could almost see the younger version of Mio from the past, wearing the exact same expression Mio had now. _Was that when I made that promise to you? We were so young…_

"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." said Ritsu, her voice shaky. Yui peeked out from behind Mio, her face concerned.

"Riichan! What happened. Are you two okay? How come Mio's not saying anything. Tell meeeee."

Ritsu felt her insides cool slightly as Mio squeezed her hand, her face scared and Ritsu suddenly had insight to how Mio was feeling.

_Of course I'll still be your friend if you let me…Despite everything, you need me and want me to stay…right? _

She knew she would be the same as Mio if their situations were reversed but it wasn't making her stomach feel any better. Ritsu gave Mio's hand a small squeeze before running for it.

Yui gasped and quickly followed, rushing past Mio. "Oh no Ricchan, serious trouble! You're sick! Nurse Yui will take care of you." _Agh, this is so humiliating, _thought Ritsu as her knees hit the bathroom floor. She hugged the bright porcelin bowl and felt Yui pat her back. _I don't want to throw up in front of you guys_. She coughed a couple times but nothing came out.

"Come on Yui, lets give her privacy." said Mio from somewhere behind her. Ritsu felt tears come to her eyes as she felt Yui's presence disappear but she could still hear her voice. Yui was arguing loudly that Ritsu needed them. _They're both such good friends. _The door quietly shut and Ritsu let out a deep breathe before slumping against the bathroom wall. "Jeez, how did I get myself into this mess." The drum player stared vacantly around the bathroom and felt weariness wrap its blanket around her. Her head was spinning and she felt that the alcohol was amplifying her emotions to an uncomfortable level. "It'll be better in the morning…" she thought as she pulled herself to her feet to open the door. Mio and Yui were gently guiding her somewhere. Ritsu felt soft blankets and a pillow underneath her head. Somebody was patting her head and brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She lifted her head weakly to see her two fellow band members leaving the room and then collapsed back into the bed. _I want to go out there and fix everything but it'll just have to wait until tomorrow… _

As Ritsu drifted off to sleep, she could remember Mio smiling at her on the beach, Yui splashing her with water and Mugi working on her sand castle nearby.

_I'll fix everything… tomorrow_

_

* * *

  
_

_A/N: short chapter  
_


	13. Chapter 13: Tag

What happened Mio?" asked Yui, following Mio around the house as she cleaned.

"It was nothing Yui." Mio replied, picking up the cake and carefully walking over to the refrigerator with it. The bassist glanced over her shoulder to look at Yui and smiled. "Ritsu tried to scare me while she was drunk and I hit her a little bit too hard."

Mio's heart dropped a little bit at Yui's hurt expression and she turned away, closing her eyes for several moments before continuing on. She felt a cool rush of air as she opened the refrigerator and stored the cake on the middle shelf.

"Mio, I was talking on the phone with Ui and then I heard you crying so…" began Yui, putting a hand on Mio's shoulder.

Mio covered her ears and tensed up like a frightened child. "Yui! Stop. I don't want to hear it."

Yui hesitated and then sighed, looking a little sullen. "How come you can't tell me Mio? I never heard you crying like that before. It scared me." Yui leaned against Mio and hugged her from behind, pressing her body against the taller girl.

Mio felt a flush spreading across her face as she felt Yui's warm body on her back and soft arms wrapped around her stomach. It was giving her a warm feeling that started from inside her chest and spread throughout her entire body. The bassist couldn't help but smile, the simple gesture washed away all her negative thoughts and filled her with a light happiness. It was almost surreal how quickly her mood was able to change. Mio turned around to face Yui and hugged her back, pulling her in. "I'm okay now Yui. I'm happy…that…'

Mio looked away shyly and Yui tilted her head.

"Happy about what?" Yui asked, leaning in a little closer.

"That I have you."

Yui broke out into laughter and broke away as Mio blushed harder at her corny statement. Then she laughed as well, the tension and stress was leaving her body.

"You're too cute Mio." Yui said, smiling happily. "This is why I wanted my first boyfriend to be you."

"…I'm not a boy Yui!!!" exclaimed Mio, turning red at the thought.

"Ah? Oh, I meant girlfriend eheheh. Well, you do have big hands." Yui joked, leaning slightly towards the exit just in case she had to make a quick get away.

"Hey you!"

Mio smiled despite herself and started to chase Yui who darted out of the kitchen, laughing gleefully. Unfortunately she stumbled over a chair and came tumbling down onto the carpet. Mio pounced on top of her in a moment of excitement and pinned her to the ground. "Say you're sorry Yui, or you're going to get it."

"Get what?" asked Yui breathlessly, looking up at Mio. "Is it something good?"

Mio blushed as she realized the position they were in. She was sitting on her girlfriend's thigh and Mio could feel Yui's bare skin against her panties since they were both wearing skirts. Mio bit her lip and tried not to moan as Yui sat up, her leg rubbing against her core.

"Ah? You're so hot here." Yui said innocently, looking down at where Mio was sitting.

The taller girl quickly got off Yui, settling herself in a kneeling position and looked at Yui embarrassed.

Yui slowly started to blush too as she looked up at Mio in the dim light. "You know Mio, we're both all alone right now."

Mio wasn't sure if she liked the mischievous look on Yui's face right now. "Hey…What are you thinking Yui?"

Yui lept on Mio, hugging her tightly and pushing her back against the ground. Mio gasped as their bodies collided and then stared up into Yui's eyes, dazed. _She's so good looking, what the hell…_

Yui laid down on top of Mio, grinning victoriously. "I'm on top!" she said proudly.

Before Mio could protest, she felt warm lips against hers, thin strands of hair tickling her nose and a thin, yet sensual body pressing against her.

Mio parted her lips as Yui kissed her, closing her eyes and enjoying the soft wet texture of her lips. The bassist shuddered as she felt Yui's aggressive tongue occasionally brushing against her lips or dipping into her parted mouth and gasped for breath as she felt Yui's thigh rubbing against her core, pushing her skirt up.

"Ahh."

Mio shuddered, realizing for a moment that their saliva was mixing and that this kind of kissing was nothing like what she had seen in movies. Still, it felt nicer than she could ever have imagined.

_Where did you learn to kiss like this Yui? I think I can understand why just one kiss from you made me fall in love._

They both paused for a moment, looking into each others eyes and breathing heavily. Mio's heart was beating fast and for a moment, she thought about the taboo of making out like this right in Ritsu's living room, given what just happened.

Guilt flooded Mio as she remembered Ritsu's hot tongue and how it had felt good…How she had lost it and slapped Ritsu…How she had broken down from the guilt of almost cheating on Yui and not wanting to break her best friend's heart.

It was too much for her. She felt responsible for not showing up on time for Ritsu's birthday in the first place. They were supposed to be best friends…and then seeing her precious friend under the influence of alcohol. _It's all my fault…I let Ritsu down. _

Ritsu was one of the strongest people Mio knew and it was a heart breaking feeling to have known she had cried and drank out of depression on her birthday of all days.

"What are you thinking about Mio?" asked Yui suddenly, looking curiously at the raven haired beauty.

"Nothing really…" responded Mio, turning her head away slightly.

Yui sighed a little bit and Mio felt her heart sink slightly.

"We have school tomorrow don't we?" asked Yui suddenly.

"I don't want to think about that." responded Mio, reaching up to cradle Yui's face in her hands and pull her down for another kiss. She just wanted to forget everything.

Yui responded and then broke the kiss to lean further in and lick Mio's earlobe.

The bassist unconsciously raised her hips as Yui's tongue entered her ear and then screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Mio pushed Yui away and sat up, putting a hand to her ear. She looked at Yui with a shocked expression, there was a sticky moisture in her ear and it was traumatic…_and dirty…_thought Mio as she thought about the existence of earwax.

"Yui! That felt so weird." she sniffed, small tears forming at the corners of her eyes and her adrenaline going out of control.

"Ahahah, I got a little carried away I guess." said Yui, rubbing the back of her head.

"I just thought about a slug crawling into my ear." complained Mio, shaking in fear as she remembered the sensation. "Promise me you won't do that again okay Yui?"

"Only if you promise to be good." said Yui smiling.

Mio stared at Yui for several moments, realizing that she might be losing a large power struggle early on in the relationship.

_Still…_

"I'll be good." Mio said quietly, suddenly becoming embarrassed at her own words.

Yui raised a hand to her face. "You're soooo cute!" she exclaimed, laughing and hugging Mio tightly.

"Well, I'm glad you think its funny." Mio huffed, feeling slightly defeated. "It's a pain but, we do have school tomorrow…Want to go to sleep?"

"Let's stay up all night!" said Yui excitedly. "I can't go to sleep anyway if you're with me."

"Then we'll both die an early death." retorted Mio, starting to get up.

"I don't care if its with you." responded Yui immediately, standing up and brushing off the back of her skirt.

"Stop joking around Yui! Come on, lets go to the guest bedroom." said Mio, grabbing Yui's hand a little shyly and leading the way to the guest bedroom. When Yui was sweet, it was the most intoxicating feeling in the world.

Mio felt herself being absorbed by her words and a romantic image of her and Yui holding each other surrounded by Lilly petals amidst a medieval battle field ran through her head.

Mio looked at the single bed in the guestroom, and then looked at Yui, their eyes meeting. "Well, I'm definitely not getting sleep if we share that thing."

Yui seized this opportunity to grab Mio and pull her to the bed. Several moments later, both girls were underneath the sheets, Mio holding a hand to her head. "Jeez, this is a bad decision."

"What do you mean?" asked Yui, turning on her side to hug Mio and lean her head against her shoulder.

Mio blushed in the dark. It was the first time anybody had been in the bed with her in this kind of setting and because she couldn't see well, her sense of touch was amplified. It was kind of exciting in a way.

"I…" began Mio but Yui had propped herself up and was staring at her intently.

"Yui?"

Yui paused in the dark and leaned on Mio, their face inches apart.

"You know Mio. I didn't want to bring this up but…I actually saw some of what happened earlier with Ritsu. Why did you lie to me?"

A/N: -______-


	14. Chapter 14: Touch

A/N: warning, this chapter is kind of lemon-y

* * *

"Hmph," Yui said as she rolled on her other side to face the wall, crossing her arms. "I can't believe you would lie to me."

Mio's eyes widened in surprise. "Yui! I didn't mean to. I just didn't want to hurt you and it was already a complicated situation. Please don't be mad?"

"I'm mad." Yui said quickly, squirming away form Mio and facing the wall. "Hmph."

"Stop pouting jeez, I won't lie to you again. I promise." Mio said pleadingly, but something in Yui's tone made her feel that she wasn't really mad. "I'll do anything you want..." Mio whispered into Yui's ear, gambling on Yui's excitable personality and then flushing at her own daringness.

"Really?" Yui turned around, eyes wide and excited and Mio felt a strange sense of irritation.

_Jeez, that was way too easy Yui. _

Mio looked into Yui's eyes for a moment, trying to decipher her emotions.

Yui smiled and kissed Mio's nose. "I wasn't really mad, I know it must have been hard to hit Ritsu. I didn't know what to do then either...honestly, I was panicking more than you probably. I'm proud of you Mio. No matter what would have happened though, I don't think anything you can do will make me stop feeling this way about you.," she finished, blushing at her own words and reaching out to hold Mio's hands in hers.

Mio felt her heart thump and then Yui's warm lips on hers again. She was really starting to get used to the feeling and she kissed back, feeling a warm torrent of passionate emotion filling her. It was more than she could have expected, for Yui to be this sweet to her. Her words were like small sweet drops of candy in her mouth that spread warmth through her body and gave her courage to face the rest of the world if she had to. "Me too Yui…You made me crazy," she whispered, feeling her heart beating fast. The world outside that bed no longer existed to her as she looked at the object of her secret desires.

Yui's hands reached underneath Mio's tanktop and rubbed her bare back, pulling her closer until their bodies were pressed against each other as the kissing intensified. Mio gasped for breath, blushing furiously at the sensation of Yui's warm body against hers and felt Yui pushing her right shoulder so she was laying on her back.

Yui lay on her side, cupping Mio's face and tilted it towards her lips. As their lips met again, Yui's hand slowly traced the skin of Mio's neck, down the valley of her chest and rested gently on her lower stomach. "I want you to be only mine Mio." whispered Yui as she kissed down from Mio's lips to her chin and then closing her lips against the skin of her neck, flicking her tongue and then sucking gently.

_Ah, Why does it feel so good..._

She stared into Yui's warm brown eyes for several moments before reaching her hands up to pull her head down towards hers, parting her lips as Yui descended against Mio once again, inserting her tongue into the bassist's mouth. _Mmmmff. _

Mio closed her eyes and let out short gasps of breath as Yui started to nibble and suck on her sensitive neck. "Ah, Y-yui..." moaned Mio, feeling her body reacting positively to Yui's lips and hands. Yui's hand had reached underneath Mio's shirt and played with the clasp to Mio's bra. "Ne, I can this off right?" asked Yui, trying to contain her excitement and blushing in the dim light.

"No way Yui!" exclaimed Mio, scared yet too turned on to fight her emotions and body's excited state.

Mio felt the brown haired guitarist unclasp her bra and blushed furiously as Yui started pulling up her shirt over her breasts. "Ah, wait Yui. Nooo!"

Mio covered her face as she felt cool air against her bare chest and her heart raced as Yui giggled and started kissing down her collarbone.

"Yui...AH!" Mio cried out loud as Yui closed her mouth around one of Mio's nipples, her hot mouth sending intense waves of pleasure through her body. Mio could feel an uncomfortable wetness between her legs and arched her hips as Yui flicked her nipple with her tongue, gazing lovingly at Mio's face as she did. "I love you Mio." she murmured before descending again, making Mio squirm. The bassist covered a hand to her mouth as she tried not to scream from the intense sensation. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

"Yui! Stop. Go slower." she whined between gasps for breath.

The guitarist giggled and looked down at Mio happily. "You're too cute Mio," she said as she leaned down to kiss away the tears that started to trickle down the dark haired bassist's eyes. "Don't cry, I'll make you happy."

Mio felt light headed as she felt Yui's salty tongue in her mouth. She kissed back, squeezing her thighs together. _I feel like I'm under a spell, _thought Mio helplessly as strange urges and alien sensations overcame her body. She could feel Yui's hot core through her wet panties on her thigh and she was burning up as well. "Yui…Where did you learn all this?" asked Mio breathlessly as Yui's fingers traced her bare thighs, making her heart skip a beat. "I don't know…If I'm ready for this yet."

Yui gently nuzzled Mio's nose with hers. "Aw, come on Mio. I want you so bad though."

"Yea, but this is our first night together isn't it too fast?" asked Mio, feeling a wave of anxiety and excitement wash over her as Yui's hand reached under her skirt to play with the soft fabric of her panties.

_How is she so good at this?_

Mio grabbed Yui's hand before it reached its final destination and looked at her in the eyes. "Yui, I'm scared," she whispered, looking at the shorter girl with wide eyes. The guitarist was flushed and her skin was glistening with a thin layer of sweat. Her clothes were disheveled and Mio was suddenly more aware of her own state of undress. Still, Yui's eyes were mesmerizing her and she found herself unable to look away. She looked beautiful in the dim light, her scent, her warmth, her cute affectionate fondling, it was an overload of sensation.

Yui suddenly broke out into a grin and leaned forward to give Mio a quick kiss. Their lips barely grazed each other and Mio found herself wanting more as Yui pulled back to smile at her. "Okay Mio, I just want to make you happy. I can wait."

Mio let out a sigh of relief. She was so close to just giving in but she was afraid of what Yui would do to her. She had never put anything inside there and she was worried about the possibility of bleeding, the pain if Yui was too rough with her and the smell. She had showered before going to the mall and was worried that she might smell bad from all the sweat she accumulated.

"Mio, I can't believe you're mine," said Yui happily as she rolled off Mio and rested on her side, brushing some of Mio's dark bangs out of her eyes. Mio looked at Yui and smiled, quickly reapplying her bra strap and lowering her shirt. "Me too Yui," she whispered back, squeezing her hand.

The bassist turned on her back and stared up at the ceiling, too restless to sleep. Her body was still excited and it was driving her crazy. It didn't help that Yui was restless as well and kept hugging and kissing her. Mio wondered what time it was and leaned over to the bed stand where she had left her cell phone. "Ah! Its 2:00 in the morning Yui," exclaimed Mio, making a grim face. Tommorow was going to be a rough day, especially since they had a special practice session afterwards.

"I don't care, Today is the best day ever," whispered Yui, holding Mio's hand and squeezing it gently.

"Try to go to sleep Yui. We'll have plenty of time to ourselves," she said, blushing slightly. "By the way, you never answered me. How come you know so much about this ecchi stuff?"

"Oh, I had a lover before," admitted Yui, blushing slightly in the darkness.

Mio laughed. "Oh, I see. Wait, what?!"

* * *

Writing this chapter was very difficult for me, I rushed the last couple paragraphs just to get it over with. I make alot of mistakes I notice, so please continue to help me out! I have a couple new ideas where to take this story so hopefully it gets fun to work on this story in the future.


	15. Chapter 15: First Morning

Chapter 15: Chapter 15: First Morning

Exhaustion. Yui opened her eyes as a ray of sunlight pierced the translucent window across from her and lit up the dim train. The constant sound of the train's wheels and the murmuring of people around her filled her ears and she felt her head drooping again…

"Ah, my freaking head!" screamed Ritsu from next to her. Yui jumped slightly and looked at their precious drummer.

"Are you okay Ritsu?" asked Yui, casually reaching over to rub Ritsu's back. The drummer looked at Yui with a pained expression on her face.

"Make it go away Yui, this headache is the worst and the train is not helping," complained Ritsu, leaning her head on Yui's shoulder and holding her stomach with both hands.

"It'll be okay Ritsu. We're almost there and then the fresh air should help."

When Ritsu had woken up, she vowed she would never drink again and asked what happened last night. Apparently the last thing she remembered was chugging sake in the kitchen. Lucky….thought Yui as she smiled at their pained drummer.

Yui glanced over to her other side where Mio was dozing lightly, her head bobbing slightly as the train moved.

Occasionally she would lean towards her and because of her height, lean her head against Yui's. Yui would have to fight the urge to turn her head and kiss her cheek if that happened.

She definitely isn't a morning person, thought Yui giggling a little bit to herself. She watched Mio for a moment, mesmerized by her unnatural beauty. Like something out of a dark fairy tail, an evil sleeping beauty that would steal your soul if you woke her with a kiss, thought Yui randomly… and then laughed at the irony.

Mio herself would find that concept scary probably.

Mio blinked, stirred by Yui's laughter and looked up at her sleepily.

"Y-yui."

Yui smiled. My sleepy Mio, too cute. "Good morning sleepy head."

"Ah, don't talk right now or my head is going to explode!" complained Ritsu, putting her hands over her ears.

"That's why you shouldn't drink Ritsu!" chastised Mio suddenly, sitting up to lecture her best friend.

"I got it. I got it, I'm never going to drink ever again," responded Ritsu, irritated. "It's not like you've never drank before either."

Mio turned red. "That's why I only did it one time!"

Yui leaned back and let the two fight it out, her interest perking at times and her attention wandering at times. Apparently Ritsu didn't remember what happened the night before, which was probably for the best. She glanced over at Mio, her eyes looked weary but a spark of anger lit them up, her face was beautiful even when she was angry.

Yui imagined herself grabbing Mio by the shoulders, pushing her forcefully against the chair, straddling her and then looking at her shocked expression as she fiercely kissed her right in the middle of the train with everybody watching.

Heheh

"And you, what are you laughing about?" asked Mio. Uh oh, looks like Ricchan lost the battle thought Yui, glancing over at Ritsu who was holding her head and resting her elbows against her knees.

"Nothing really Mio," Yui responded quickly.

"Tell me, Yui! Who was it?"

"I can't, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Please, I want to know…"

"It's not important Mio, I have you now and my heart is yours."

"Then why are you hiding things from me? If you're mine, you should be able to tell me?"

"If I made a promise with you, you wouldn't want me to break it no matter what right?"

"Yea but..."

"Are you mad?"

"Jeez, I don't know anymore."

Mio looked away from her after a little while and crossed her arms. Yui smiled, everything Mio did was cute to her.

"I don't have any secrets from you, it's not fair…"

Yui blushed and timed a bump on the train to "accidently" fall on top of Mio. She buried her face into Mio's soft chest and then looked up grinning.

"Yui!" exclaimed Mio, turning red and quickly pushing Yui back to her chair. She huffed and turned away, crossing her arms.

Yui grinned to herself at her own tactical expertise and sighed.

Exhaustion. She normally slept much longer than this but mornings weren't usually too bad for her. That was because she usually had a mysterious excess of energy that kept her going at all times.

I'm not single…I have a girlfriend! thought Yui, blushing to herself. Despite Mio being right next to her, her mind wandered to the night before. Her cute expressions, sounds…Her beautiful, dark and vulnerable eyes. Yui wanted to shout it to the world, run a triathlon, climb up the tallest mountain with a flag, send satellites into space…what else, thought Yui, leaning her head back and looking up at the roof the train.

Yui closed her eyes, in her head she could hear a soothing bass melody. Her fingers curled up to hit the chords that would go along with them. I can't wait to make more music with you Mio. Yui tapped her feet, she could hear the melody in her head, it was a light playful melody that gave her a warm feeling. Ritsu stirred next to her and now Yui could hear a drum beat. Yui wanted to dance. She smiled as another guitar solo ripped in her mind, Azusa speed picking perfectly to Ritsu's rhythm. The keyboard was playing chords and harmonizing with her, Yui could almost see Mugi standing there in the spot light, her fingers blazing across the keys. Then, the audience…thousands of people, fans, critics, stars as far as the eye could see.

Yui felt a warm hand grab hers and she opened her eyes. Mio was still facing away from her but her hand was gently holding hers now. The sunlight and shadows alternated its pattern on Mio as the train moved and Yui could see the slightest hint of a blush in Mio's cheeks.

Yui smiled and squeezed her hand.

Do we all share the same dream?

* * *

  
A/N: EDIT: for plot reasons. Just wanted to make it more clear that Ritsu blacked out and didn't remember the night before


	16. Chapter 16: Brave

"Did that girl just call you Azusa sempai?" asked Yui nonchalantly as they walked down the hall towards the band room.

Azusa smiled. "I'm a second year now Sempai. You're graduating soon you know."

"Oh…so that much time has gone by huh?" responded Yui, glancing up with a thoughtful expression. "Well, you'll always be a first year to me."

"Yui sempai! What are you saying. That doesn't even make sense," responded Azusa irritably.

"Okay, you'll always be my cute kouhai then Azu-nyan," said Yui, grinning.

"Jeez Sempai, I'm the one worried about you honestly."

Azusa sighed, thinking about all the homework she had to do when she got home. She had no idea how the others maintained good grades when it was crunch time for a performance. With the exception of Yui who might be failing... Still, their practices always relieved her of stress…It even made her feel amazing. She loved the feeling as much as the others did, so with each step towards the music room her anticipation grew.

"Oh, how come you didn't come out to the movies last night?" asked Azusa suddenly. She had gone hoping to see Yui but Ui was always fun too. She smiled thinking about how cute their role reversal was. When she thought about it, it was almost eerie how collected and mature Ui was.

"Oh, I went shopping with Mio for Ritsu's birthday present," said Yui, blushing slightly.

"Eh? Nobody told me it was Ritsu's birthday!" exclaimed Azusa. "Why do you guys always leave me out of things?"

"It's not like that Azusa. I think Ritsu wanted it to be just her and Mio," responded Yui quickly, hoping to calm her down. "Even I was kind of unwelcomed."

Yui suddenly saddened as she remembered Ritsu and Mio's tear streaked faces. The memory was out of place within all the happy memories they had made together over the years.

Yui remembered her heart beating as she saw what she had always considered a beautiful friendship about to fall apart. It scared her so badly, her own emotions were getting out of control. She didn't want to see Mio and Ritsu fight no matter what, yet she couldn't let it continue. In the end, she stood frozen and Mio punched Ritsu in the temple, breaking out into tears.

Yui felt daggers enter her heart as she remembered the sound. She had never heard such heart broken sobs except in movies. In real life it was a hundred times worse.

Then there was Ritsu's broken expression, it was horrifying.

She had felt so fake pretending to not have seen it. Finally talking it out with Mio helped her calm down but still, Yui felt like she might have been too pushy that night considering what had happened. She had just wanted to forget everything in Mio's arms but was it right?

It's okay if I love her… thought Yui.

It was a strange situation and she wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. Her past lover and she had no hope for a future together so it was really just a phase they went through. Mio was something completely different.

Yui knew she admired Mio, found her attractive and was flattered that she liked her back. She also knew she had no problem kissing other girls and that she even preferred it but...love? It was too early to use words like that but…

_"I love you Yui."_

"Nothing will ever defeat me," declared Yui suddenly. She knew if she put her focus into it she could do anything. And being the most amazing girlfriend possible was going to be her priority number one. She would love Mio with all her heart so she would never have to second guess herself again.

"Eh? What are you talking about sempai?" asked Azusa.

Yui blinked, brought back to reality. "Oh…I mean…isn't that good to say once in a while?"

Azusa broke out into a cute smile, her dimples showing. Yui felt the warm gushy feeling she felt whenever she saw something cute.

"Thanks Azu-nyan, you always brighten up my day."

Yui paused, they were in front of the music room door before she knew it and she was staring at the door. Everyone else should already be inside…

"What are you waiting for Yui sempai? We have to hurry up and practice," said Azusa.

Yui nodded furiously and stepped inside.

"Oh, Yui! Azusa! Good afternoon," said Mugi, smiling brightly.

The other keion girls were sitting around the coffee table, sipping on tea. Yui felt a familiar happiness returning to her body as she ran to sit down in her seat. The music room had become like a second home to her.

As she ran, she caught Mio's eye. The bassist was resting her chin against her palm, her elbow propped on the table. When their eyes met Mio gave her the slightest smile and Yui felt her heart flutter.

A couple days ago, this kind of secret exchange would be nonexistent. It made Yui blush from the secrecy and the renewed excitement of having a new girlfriend. That, and she cherished Mio's beauty even more now that she was hers.

"Oh, I like your new hair band Ritsu," complemented Azusa as she took her seat and received her tea from Mugi. She was a total pro to the keion club ways by now. "Did you get that for your birthday? The one you didn't invite me to?"

Man, Azusa is getting really cheeky these days.

Ritsu smiled apologetically. "Sorry Azusa. It was a disaster anyway, I'm glad you weren't there."

As Azusa and Ritsu broke out into animated chatter, Yui turned to Mio. "So Mio, how was your day?"

Silence…

Yui glanced around and noticed Mugi was unusually quiet. She would fidget in her chair and keep looking away blushing. Everyone else was watching then intently except Azusa who paused in midsentence and glanced around confused.

"So…everyone already knows?" asked Mio timidly, turning red.

"Knows what?" asked Azusa, standing up excitedly. It seemed like big news for there to be such a dramatic silence. She thought of all the possibilities. Maybe a talent scout had found their band to be promising and wanted to give them recording time. Or Mio sempai was going to announce which university she planned on attending.

After several more seconds of awkward silence, Azusa's patience was running out. "Well out with it already. What does everybody know?"

Yui looked at Mio in the eyes. Mio looked scared but she nodded slightly. If it was just the keion girls, we could probably keep it a secret…right? Mio had spent many hours worrying about how people would react if they found out and had convinced Yui to keep it a secret… but they decided to trust the other band members.

"Well Azu-nyan, Mio and I are dating now," said Yui shyly.

"Ehh?" Azusa covered her mouth and then started turning red. "So you were really into girls this whole time?"

"Well, I think its just Mio," said Yui laughing and rubbing the back of her head.

"Wow…I'm so happy for you two," said Azusa, sitting down shakily.

Yui thought she most have been shocked. Azusa's cute face looked pale. Her eyebrows were slightly knit like she had a stomach ache.

After several moments Mugi fell out of her chair from a nose bleed.

"Oh…no. Mugi? Are you okay?" asked Ritsu, getting out of her seat to help up Mugi.

"Oh ho ho ho ho," came a voice from behind Yui.

Yui jumped in surprise and turned slightly in her chair to look behind her.

"Sawa chan? You need to stop sneaking up on me,"

"You're so cute," she said blushing and holding her hands to her cheeks. "There's so many couple costumes I have to make now for next week's live." She put a finger to her lips, a scary glint in her eyes.

Mio buried her face into her arms, too embarrassed to deal with the situation. Plus, the image of Yui in a piccolo costume was making her laugh. The laughter was a good escape from her embarrassment; it made her feel lighter on the inside.

"Sawa chan, be more responsible and help me with Mugi!" yelled Ritsu.

"Don't feel like it." Sawako sensei replied, sitting down in her chair and pouring herself a cup of tea. "She'll be fine, I guess the news was a little bit much for her."

"You're not surprised Sawa chan?" asked Yui, tilting her head. She had been glancing over at Mugi to make sure she was okay but she seemed to have recovered. Ritsu was helping her to the chair.

"Well, I am surprised to be honest that it was you two of all people, but its not a big deal. Back in my year some of my band members were into each other as well. They were so cute, honestly. Too bad they didn't' make it." The teacher replied, reaching for a cracker.

Yui felt herself getting defensive for some reason. She wanted to tell Sawa chan that she and Mio would definitely make it but the words were stuck in her throat.

"W-we…I mean, I think we can make it," said Mio meekly, lifting her head to peek out at Sawako sensei and then hiding her face again as the beautiful teacher broke out into a childish, immature grin.

"Oh Mio, you're so brave to be saying those embarrassing words. I wonder how the audience would react if you declared your love on stage! It would be so romantic."

"Stop teasing her Sawa chan!" chastised Yui, defending her new girlfriend.

Sawako sensei laughed. It was amazing how close the band members had gotten to the music teacher over the years. The teacher loved them furiously as well and occasionally showed it. Mostly though, she acted like she was a teenager herself, sometimes taking naps and using them as sentries just in case the principal walked in. The keion girls were glad Sawako sensei could be herself around them, it had caused them great amounts of amusement and horror.

"Congratulations!" blurted out Mugi, like she had been holding those words in for a year. She looked a little embarrassed but there was that innocent happy look on her face. Yui and Mio both beamed at her, blushing slightly.

"Where is Azusa?" asked Yui suddenly.

"She went to the restroom I think," said Ritsu, leaning her head against her hand and looking at Mio. Mio caught her eye and smiled weakly. Ritsu sighed and dipped her head a little bit. "My Mio is growing up!" she declared dramatically.

"Oi, Ritsu!" yelled Mio loudly.

"Just a minute," said Yui, standing up and heading towards the exit. "I want to talk to Azu-nyan real quick."

Mio started to move but hesitated.

"It'll be okay, I'll just be a second!" Yui called to Mio as she dashed out of the room.

* * *

A/N: Hmm, thanks to your reviews I found a plot inconsistency early on and will work to fix it. I will probably change some of the content in previous chapters but…I'll let you know what changed so you don't have to go back and re-read xD Thank you everyone, I'm working hard to bring everyone a good story. A lot of my grammar mistakes are unintentional, re-reading this chapter I found a bunch of silly mistakes and fixed them.

My goal for this fanfiction is to create a story where a relationship progresses somewhat realistically while keeping a lot of the elements from the original work. Day by day events, fluff, and eventually fights and breakups, maybe I'll take it further maybe not. I have some vague idea of the group going pro sometime in the future chapters, we'll see.

EDIT: plot fix. joke fail removal.


	17. Chapter 17: Addiction

"Mugi…" sighed Mio helplessly. Everytime she looked over at their keyboard player she would turn red, her innocent looking eyes wide and then she would look away shyly.

"Sorry Mio, I just keep thinking about things, I feel very improper right now," responded Mugi shyly, holding a hand to her cheek. "Oh no, my face is so hot."

Mio smiled weakly. Having too much attention, even amongst her close friends made her slightly anxious… and it was about an embarrassing topic. Despite her deep trust with her band and teacher, Mio kept wondering what would happen if her secret were to be leaked to the rest of the school.

_I can't even imagine…_

Mio sighed again but as the thought of Yui snuck into her mind, she instantly felt a wave of comfort and happiness bubble up inside her. Even though she had only been gone a few minutes she already missed her.

_Hurry up, I want to see you…_

"So, when did all of this happen hm?" asked Sawako sensei, drinking the last of her tea and leaning back, relaxing. Mio blushed, remembering the details of the past few days and shook her head. "Ano, can't we talk about something else? We do have a live coming up."

"Can't practice without Yui and Azusa… besides the songs we're doing are ones we know very well. I'm sure even if we didn't practice we would be fine," said Ritsu, propping her elbow on the table and resting her cheek against her palm.

"Ritsu!" Mio felt a small amount of frustration bubble up inside her. Ritsu and Yui were always so lazy when it came to practices but she was too worn out to argue. It was true, they would probably be fine but still…not so long ago they bombed a performance because they didn't practice enough.

"What, Mio?" There was a certain amount of coldness in Ritsu's tone that sent a chill down Mio's spine. It was a harsh tone and Mio could see in the corner of her eye that Mugi was startled as well.

"Are you okay Ritsu?" asked Mugi meekly, gently reaching a hand to Ritsu's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," snapped Ritsu, edging away sharply.

Mio blinked in shock, and now the frustration was coming back to her ten fold. "Ritsu! What's gotten into you?"

"I…" Ritsu stared at Mio, creases appearing in her forehead. "I-I…have a migraine."

"You're giving everyone else one too with that attitude!"

"Now now children," said Sawako sensei mildly, "SHUT UP!"

Everyone went silent and looked down at the floor, each lost in their own thoughts except Sawako sensei who looked pretty content with herself. "Now, as I was saying Mio. I command you to tell me all the details."

"No way!" responded Mio, turning red again.

_Yui…_Mio sighed, if only she could find Yui and be alone with her right now. It was the only thing she wanted. Ritsu was obviously being jealous again, Mugi and Sawa chan were mostly themselves but all the attention was starting to get to her and make her irritated.

The bassist briefly considered growing out long bangs so she could hide her face when she was embarrassed.

_Yui…_

Mio thought about Yui's warm eyes and happy smile beaming up at her… the way she would wrap her arms around her waist and stand on her tippy toes to…

The urge was almost unbearable now, it was like slowly suffocating under water, the need to see Yui was now a painful burning flame in her chest. The bassist narrowed her dark eyes.

_Why do I already miss you this much? Maybe it's because I've been waiting all day to see you. Yui…_

Mio blinked, snapping back to reality as Sawako sensei stood up, brushing off her long skirt. The bassist noticed that her teacher's expression was back to professional mode...she was smiling pleasantly. "Well children, I have some errands to run so I will see you guys tomorrow."

"Have a good night Sawa chan," said Mugi politely.

"Have fun with your boyfriend!" called out Ritsu.

"Hey! I'm not going to hang out with my boyfriend. I have actual work to do."

"Yeah right," responded Ritsu, making a face.

"Hmph," pouted Sawako sensei as she gave them one last look. Mio put a hand to her forehead as Sawako sensei gave her an extremely exaggerated slow motion wink while sticking her tongue out slightly.

_Jeeeeeez_

There were a few moments of silence.

"Well…if you two don't mind, I was thinking about this one melody…" Mugi began, looking down timidly.

"What's that Mugi? I would love to hear it," said Mio, smiling at her and feeling appreciative for a distraction that was actually productive. Mio felt her heart warm up a bit at Mugi's delighted smile. It was cute the way Mugi's face would completely light up when she was happy.

"Well, I'll play it for you, let me know what you think," said Mugi, standing up and straightening out her clothes.

The girls moved over to the couch by the band equipment and Mio took a seat next to Ritsu while Mugi went over to turn on her keyboard.

_Jaaaaaaaannn~_

Mio's eyes widened as Mugi began playing, it was an unusually fast paced melody with a lot of chords split up by rapid notes that connected them. As she listened to the music she started imagining the bass line that went along with it. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ritsu's foot tapping against the ground. It was an exciting melody, partly because of the speed and partly because of its unique sound. Mugi had become extremely talented over the past year and even as a solo piece it was a breathtaking performance. Mio felt herself a little overwhelmed.

Without a word, they got up and moved to their instruments. Mugi grinned at them, her smile excited and Mio found herself smiling too. Somehow, music always took away all her worries. She even felt herself feeling apologetic to Ritsu as she glanced over at their drummer. It was hard to be mad at someone who had such an excited look on her face.

Boom, clack! Tick tick tick clack, tick tick tick clack, tick tick tick boom!

As the rhythm kicked in, Mio slung her bass guitar strap around her shoulders and leaned over to switch on her amp. It was the surge of energy she felt right now that had made her addicted to music in the first place. She felt a growing wave of excitement as she hit the first few notes, improvising some basic bass lines to match Mugi's chords.

It sounded good. Because Yui and Azusa wasn't there, the role of the piano was amplified and Mugi vibrantly showed off her skill, starting to play the same melody on a higher scale that gave a sound akin to a fresh breath of cold air.

Ritsu was on point too, normally she would be rushing but she had somehow learned to control her tempo. Mio experimentally began playing a bass line that harmonized with Mugi's notes.

_Still, its missing a little something…_

The song was ending, Mio could feel the piano slowing down and hitting notes that marked the end. She slowed down her tempo and ended neatly. The three girls looked at each other and Mugi beamed at them. "You two are amazing as always."

"Oh, that sounded really good," came a voice from the hallway.

Mio glanced up and saw the girl of her dreams.

Yui grinned from the doorway, leaning against the doorway with her arm slung around a teary eyed Azusa's shoulder.

"Yui! I missed y--…ano…" said Mio excitedly before she could stop herself.

She blushed heavily as all the other band members stared at her, and then broke out into laughter. Mio found herself laughing too.

"Come on, lets play."

* * *

A/N: a little bit of 'nothing' to get back into the groove of writing. Sorry for not updating in a long time, I've been addicted to this warcraft 3 mod called Dota. By the way, has anyone heard 'electric city' from the new Black Eyed Peas albulm? "Kick em with the drum, kick em kick em with the drum, hit em with the melody!!" reminded me of K-on for some reason. Hopefully I'll be able to write more soon and get this story moving again.


	18. Chapter 18: Poison

Azusa sighed, slipping her hands into her thin hoody and pulled out her small ipod headphones. She slipped them into her ears as she walked down the stairs from the music room. The sound filled up her ears and took away the hollow sound of her footsteps echoing in an empty hallway.

_My words crumble and fall _

_Right as they are about to reach you_

It was strange, at first it was like the wind had been knocked out of her, then a quick numbing of her senses, and then the urge to get up and walk away. She thought about Yui and Mio being together. It seemed perfect. It seemed right.

_They roll across the floor like the endless seas_

_Of pages I've crumbled and thrown away_

Azusa sighed. She wasn't ugly but she definitely wasn't even comparable to Mio. She thought about Mio's superior figure and her classical beauty. _I'm short…and I'm boring to hang out with…and Mio sempai is…_ Azusa sighed, feeling frustrated and a strange sudden feeling of wanting to go look into a mirror…

_Share with me a single moment_

_I'll drink poison from your bittersweet lips_

Azusa sighed. It was strange, she never really seriously considered acting upon her feelings but now that Yui was taken it was like the wall broke down behind all her pent up feelings for her. It was painful. Azusa blinked and noticed a wetness on her eyelashes.

_And lick up every last drop. _

_Forget that bright world you dream of_

_I'll show you a sweeter heaven_

_My one and only_

_Tears? _Azusa blinked several times in surprise and gently wiped away a small amount of moisture accumulating below her right eye. She blinked several more times to make sure and then started running. She found the nearest haven, an empty classroom near the bottom of the stairs and dashed inside, slamming the door shut and then leaning against it. She felt a shiver run down her body as she held in a sob, her palms resting against the smooth surface of the door. Azusa grit her teeth and tried to control her shaking. Now that she knew she was about to cry she was fighting it with all her might.

_Tonight, I'll give it all away_

_I'll give my words silver wings. _

_If they're my last won't you listen then?_

"Azu nyan?" came a voice from the hallway.

That was the last straw. Azusa couldn't face her right now. She closed her eyes tight as her tears finally escaped her overflowing eyes. She slid down against the wall until she was sitting on the ground. The young guitarist gasped for air and then raised her knees to her chin, her body shaking from trying to hold back the rest of her tears but they still leaked down her cheeks like droplets of rain. She couldn't believe she was hiding like this. It was humiliating.

"Azu nyan? …Where did she go."

Azusa heard footsteps fade away and breathed out, letting out a relieved sigh. Her tears continued to fall and she caught them in her palm, dumbly, taking in the senses of crying. It had been a long time since the last time she cried or felt such sadness in her heart. It was bittersweet the way she could distance herself away from her own feelings and observe what was happening to her.

_I'll take you to a better paradise_

_I'll take away all your pain_

_Fake kisses and dreams_

Azusa popped her headphones off and sighed, resting her head against the wall and looking up at the ceiling. It was okay. Yui was an idiot anyway. _Baka Yui…_ thought Azusa, narrowing her eyes and wiping several more tears away from her face. She was a strong girl and her sudden moment of weakness shocked her. She was always getting surprises ever since she joined the keion club. First it was that breathtaking performance that blew her away, and then it was Yui's consistent hugs and flirting that started to tug at the strings of her heart and…

_Look what she did to me!_

Azusa balled up her little hands into fists but she felt another wave of weakness hit her. She was so fond of Yui that she couldn't help but let the anger dissipate. She had grown to love the other band members too. The keion club was her refuge from all the academic bullshit and above all, somewhere where she experienced real music. And real music shot straight to her soul. It was like a drug she couldn't get enough of. _I have to get a hold of myself…_ she thought, looking at the ground now. The floor was clean and she could see light from outside the classroom reflecting off the tiles and dimly illuminating the room from behind the curtains.

"I'm being so stupid," said Azusa to herself, realizing her immaturity after several moments of reflection, but it didn't make her feel any better. She was a logical girl and she knew relationships typically didn't last…and if she was patient it was still a possibility…but she didn't want to think that way. Mio deserved to be happy just as much as she did.

_My first love had to be an idiot like you, huh sempai?_

Defeat…it was the only option as of now, but for some reason she was still hopeful. _Even if Yui accepted me later on, would I be able to make it work for us two?_ Azusa frowned as she thought about Ui's fate and how she might have to be somewhat of a maid to her sempai if they were to go out. Still, the image as humiliating as it was to her pride made her blush slightly. _"Wow, that was such a good meal Azu-nyan, let me reward you." _She imagined Yui saying.

_Or maybe sempai would baby me? _Azusa thought back to all the times Yui had patted her on the head or nuzzled her nose against her cheek. She blushed a little harder.

_I know better than to be an optimist though…_

She saw Mio and Yui in her mind, Yui leaning her head against Mio's shoulder and Mio looking away, blushing. She sighed and imagined herself resting her head against Yui's lap in that same mental image. Maybe there would be a way to convince Mio to share Yui…she could be like their cat or something.

_Moh, what am I saying. I don't want to come inbetween their happiness. Just be patient…_ she chastised herself.

The young guitarist rubbed her eyes, wondering if it would be obvious that she cried if she were to go back up to the music room. It still felt like there were weights on her chest and a painful tugging at her heart but she felt like a good jam on the electric would be able to lift her spirits a bit. It was the only way for her not to go crazy at this point. _Must…wash my face at least…_ thought Azusa.

She opened the door and started heading for the restroom when she caught sight of Yui.

Her heart skipped a couple beats and she considered running but in her panic, she found herself stuck.

Yui was just walking out of the restroom and jumped when she saw her.

"Azu-nyan! Where were you? I was looking for you."

"I-I…I was..." Azusa mentally yelled at herself for stumbling over her words.

Warmth. It hit her hard and spread from the impact location to the rest of her body. She felt light headed and her head drooped, leaning against her sempai's shoulder as she felt her slender arms wrapping around her back. _Stop…it…sempai…_

"I'm sorry Azusa."

_So she knew…hmph._

"I…Its…okay sempai." Strength was slowly returning her, rising from her feet to her heart. "I don't mind waiting for you." It was her emotions, her love for Yui that was making her stand straight and look into her beautiful eyes without breaking down. Acting on her feelings, even in the smallest way was making her heart beat fast. _It's the closest to a confession you're going to get at this point, you jerk. _Azusa thought to herself as she did her best to smile.

…_I love you._

As soon as she thought those words, despite herself she felt tears start to run down her cheeks, like little insensitive rebels. Her own body was betraying her!

Yui's eyes were kind and understanding, she pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at Azusa's eyes.

"Heheh," giggled Azusa despite herself as she helped Yui wipe away her tears with her sleeves. "You're a jerk sempai," she said in a whiny voice.

"I know…I might have led you on a little bit…"

Azusa looked up at Yui again and then lowered her head after a few moments, unable to look at her straight in the face. This whole situation was embarrassing. She wanted to push Yui against the wall and steal at least one kiss from her. If she were to die tomorrow then she would have no regrets.

_My words crumble and fall _

_Right as they are about to reach you_

_They roll across the floor like the endless seas_

_Of pages I've crumbled and thrown away_

_Share with me a single moment_

_I'll drink poison from your bittersweet lips_

_And lick up every last drop. _

_Forget that bright world you dream of_

_I'll show you a sweeter heaven_

_My one and only_

_Tonight, I'll give it all away_

_I'll give my words silver wings. _

_If they're my last won't you listen then?_

_I'll take you to a better paradise_

_I'll take away all your pain_

_With fake kisses and dreams_

"Yui sempai…"

"Hai?"

Azusa gave Yui her brightest smile, putting her arms behind her back. She could see that Yui was a little taken back, she stepped back slightly and blushed.

"You're…so…cute…" said Yui, almost as if she was complaining.

"I'll win you one day Yui sempai,"

"Mmm…" Yui sounded a little sad but she gave Azusa another encouraging hug, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and wiping away the moisture underneath her eyes.

"You'll find someone better than me. I promise."

Azusa made a face. "Even after all that, you won't respect my feelings. That's why you're a jerk sempai!"

Yui smiled back, looking unusually mature. There was a lonely sadness in her eyes that hit Azusa in a strange way. Azusa felt herself feeling insecure as Yui turned around and headed back up the stairs. "Well, no one knows the future I guess" she said finally. "I won't disrespect your feelings again Azusa, but I have to turn them down for now. But…don't be sad! Don't ever be sad because I will be here for you in any other way possible okay?" said Yui, tears starting to run down her face.

"Now who's the baby?" said Azusa jokingly but it touched her that Yui was feeling this bad for her. At least she cared…A small fragile flame of hope blossomed in her heart.

"Why are you so cheeky these days? Come on Azusa, lets go practice. All of us, together," said Yui, smiling. She was so encouraging and warm. Azusa couldn't help but smile back.

_I'll wait for you sempai._

_A/N: _This chapter takes place at the same time as the previous chapter, it should actually probably go before the last one but oh well, I'm too lazy to move them around and it'll only cause confusion.

The song Azusa is listening to doesn't exist, I just made up the lyrics and yea they would be awkward if sung in English…but when I read translations of Japanese songs they kind of end up that way.

About the OOCness, the girls have just grown a lot over the past two years. Yui would never be mature like how she is sometimes in this story in the anime or comic book series. I just like to think of it as they've all changed somewhat since those innocent freshman days.

This story takes place in their last year of high school just as a reminder. Thank you to everyone who wrote me encouraging reviews, and critiques as well! This has become a fun project to work on because of you guys.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'll be working hard on the next one +___+

~lolsama


	19. Chapter 19: Sleeping Beauty

_Kami-sama. If this is an illusion let me dream a little longer._

Mio smiled at the sleeping beauty lying on her side next to her. Yui looked like an angel when she slept, her peaceful face completely void of the naughty or mischievous expression she wore around her girlfriend these days. The soft rhythm of her breathing and the dim lighting in the room shining on her cute facial features made Mio's heart flutter a little bit. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so content and happy over nothing.

"I love you Yui," she whispered, leaning in slowly to kiss her gently on her nose.

Mio felt her heart beat a little faster at her own daring and rested her head against their shared pillow again, content to just look for now. After band practice, Yui had insisted on coming over and had convinced Mio to take a nap with her. Mio smiled again remembering Yui's exhausted face and the way she sleepily kissed Mio goodnight before passing out.

"Guita…"

Mio blinked in surprise as Yui reached out in her sleep to hug her, pulling herself closer and nuzzling her nose against Mio's neck.

_Jeez…_

Mio remembered when Yui had first gotten her guitar, she regularly slept with it. _She was a really unusual girl…special would have to be the word for it, _thought Mio, smiling as she remembered Yui's many antics their freshman year.

Her own feelings were still surprising her. Everything she looked at Yui it tugged at her heart. _At this rate I'm going to be obsessed…_thought Mio worriedly. She wondered what her parents would say if they walked in and saw the two of them sleeping in the bed like this. She wondered if it would be a little suspicious since she hadn't had any friends over other than Ritsu in ages. She sighed, her parents were very gullible so they would believe anything she told them. It also bothered her that she would have to lie but there was no other way around it.

She reached a hand over to gently brush Yui's bangs out of her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Yui's soft hair.

"_Wow Mio…your hands are so big…"_

Mio blushed, remembering Yui teasing her about it earlier that day and felt a small amount of embarrassment. She often wished she was a little shorter with a slightly flatter chest and dainty hands, but she was tall, well endowed and had big hands and there wasn't much she could do about it. _Well, at least its easier for me to play bass…_thought Mio absentmindedly, her mind starting to drift off to random things. The piece that Mugi had come up with was really amazing and both Yui and Azusa did an amazing job of improvising to it. Mio wanted to play it at the upcoming live if possible but it was only in a couple days…There isn't enough time to practice…and there were still no lyrics to go along with it. Mio tried to ponder some lyrics to go along with it but Yui started to snore lightly and she completely lost her train of thought.

"Jeez…Yui…"

_So…cute…_Mio thought, making a face at the sleeping Yui. _Maybe I should just go to sleep too…but, I'm not tired…_

Mio wondered how upset Yui would be if she woke her up right now. Her gentle snoring was too cute though, Mio found herself stuck in a dilemma.

_I think that's enough, I'm bored. _

"Yui? Wake up Yui…" whispered Mio gently into her girlfriends ear, shaking her lightly.

_Nothing…_

"Yui, lets get up. My parents said they were going to cook dinner for you tonight since you're here," tried Mio again, gently nuzzling her neck with her nose.

"Mmmm…" Yui opened her eyes and blinked a couple times, her eyes half lidded. "Mio…."

"Hai?"

"Kiss me," said Yui, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes. "I'm a sleeping princess."

"If you're a sleeping princess than you should stop talking" responded Mio, grinning.

"Eh? That's no fair." Complained Yui sleepily, turning away from Mio and pulling all of the blankets to herself. "Take that, hmph."

Mio smiled. Yui's sleepiness was easily projected through her voice and it was cute the way she was talking almost like a baby.

"I-I want to play…Yui," murmured Mio as she assumed the role of the big spoon. She rested her chin on the top of Yui's head and slipped her hand underneath the blankets, hugging her underneath the sheets.

"…Ok you can have a little back," said Yui after a while, yielding a little bit more of the blanket. Yui turned around to face Mio and looked up at her with sleepy eyes. "You're…so pretty…"

Mio blushed at the sudden compliment. Sure she heard it a lot but it made her happy getting compliments from Yui. Ever since they started going out every little thing she did was huge to her. Mio wondered if it was just her personality type but receiving love from the object of her affections drove her crazy.

"Yui don't go back to sleep," said Mio sternly as Yui closed her eyes again.

"Can I have five more minutes?" Yui asked in a sleepy baby voice.

"…Yeah…" said Mio, unable to say no. "But let me get up. I'll wake you up in five."

"Okay. Give me a kiss."

_I'm spoiling her too much _thought Mio as she got off the bed and kneeled to plant a soft kiss on Yui's lips. But still, kissing her made her happy too so it was a win win situation. She blushed, savoring the soft feeling of Yui's lips against her and stood up, tucking Yui in properly before walking over to her dresser.

Mio looked in the mirror and stared at her reflection for several moments. It was true what people said, she was a pretty girl…Her dark eyes stared back at her and Mio considered putting on a little makeup. Eyeliner usually made her look very good, Yui had once said she looked like a rock star when she put make up on.

After several minutes of applying makeup Mio smiled at her reflection. She did a pretty nice job, her artistic talent was really showing through. She glanced over at Yui's sleeping form and contemplated on letting her get a couple more minutes of sleep. Not like it would matter though. Mio grabbed a mango chapstick and applied some of it to her lips. She planned on waking Yui up with it.

_Well, that could wait…_Mio walked over to her desk and slung on her headphones, hitting the play button on her ipod. It was a recording of one of their old songs and Mio smiled as she tapped her feet to it. She stared at a fresh page of notebook paper and grabbed her pen.

Hi Yui,

It's Mio! I'll try to write in here everyday

And show you this one day.

And it will make you happy I hope!

Today we had practice, Mugi came up with a new song

And I waited all day to see you

I was so lonely T.T

When I saw you I was really happy

Everyone found out about us today…

I was really embarrassed

I thought I would die from the embarrassment…

But since you were there with me I was ok

I think I'm becoming a little stronger

And then you wanted to come over which surprised me!

Today is the first time you've been to my room 3

And you just ignored me and went to sleep T.T

But I'm about to take revenge~

-Mio

* * *

A/N: :]


	20. Chapter 20: Hello Kitty

"What's so special about it?" asked Azusa, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and crossing her arms.

"I'm telling you, it's the eyes. It makes it so cute!" Ui said, beaming at her. "Don't you think so?"

Azusa narrowed her eyes, tilted her head, took a step back. "Nope, its still ugly to me."

"Oh, Come on Azusa," said Ui giggling and trotting over to punch Azusa lightly in the arm.

"You know, if I wasn't feeling so lazy I would have easily dodged that."

Ui's delighted expression eased Azusa somewhat but she felt the weights tug down at her heart again. Hanging out with Ui was definitely not the answer to her problems. _Especially since they looked so damn alike...And what's so fun about shopping?_

"Azusa…"

"Eh?" said the young guitarist, jumping slightly. Something about Ui's tone was alarming.

"Is everything okay? You seem kind of down today."

_Jeez, get out of my hair._

"It's nothing Ui, I'm just out of it today I guess."

_Polite little Ui…_thought Azusa kind of smugly as Ui looked away, folding her arms in front of her.

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Ui softly, still looking away. Azusa could almost swear she could see the slightest tinge of a blush in her companion's cheeks. _Poor little Ui, always wanting to take care of the world…It doesn't work that way sweetie. _

_Wait…What am I doing?_

Azusa reached over, grabbing the thin hair band that kept up Ui's hair. As her classmate's hair fell down and fell into its natural place, the guitarist took a step back.

_Maybe I like being hurt…_thought Azusa dumbly, as she stared into the eyes of a carbon copy of Yui. Ui had a surprised look on her face and Azusa felt her emotions destabilizing again. A sharp arrow of pain right in her chest, Azusa could almost visualize the arrow end sticking out of her chest when she looked down at her feet. _Just a second to stabilize before…_

"Ne, Ui. Want to be my girlfriend?"

Ui's reaction was cute, as she expected. The way she blushed furiously, put a hand to her mouth, turned away shyly. "Azusa! Don't joke around like that it's embarrassing."

_Mmm, pure minded as always. _

Azusa smiled. "Sorry, I just wanted to see how you would react."

It was true for the most part. Ui was sweet and definitely desirable as a significant other but she wasn't the girl she was in love with, no matter how similar they looked. _Too bad…maybe if I fell in love with you instead of Yui, things would have worked out. _

Azusa frowned. Come to think of it, she had a crush on Mio for a while. The bassist was cool and almost perfect in her eyes, and she would have stuck with her original decision if it wasn't for Yui's bewitching music…and her warmth.

_What kind of girl am I? Maybe it was right of them to compare me to a cat. I'm just a fucking dirty stray._

She started walking, Ui walking at her side and both of them quiet for the most part. Azusa wished she could put on her headphones and drown out the outside sound of the world with music. She felt her fingers trembling. She wanted to play, and she wanted to play badly.

_Azu-nyan, Want to hear my soul on six strings?_

That day changed her life. Yui's solo was beautiful; it had made her want to cry. Every since that moment, she had been practicing alone, trying to find it.

_What makes her so special? _

Warmth…Ui was hugging her arm as they walked. Azusa blinked in surprise and looked over at the brown haired girl. Ui's eyes were watery and as soon as their eyes met, she looked away, squeezing her arm tighter.

"What is it Ui?"

They stopped walking, two figures illuminated by the street lights and neon market signs. The crowd shifted to walk around them.

"It's your eyes Azusa…I've never seen such sad eyes."

Ui hugged her arm tighter as she talked.

"I just thought this would make you feel better."

_So…sweet…_

Azusa felt pain in her heart again. When she saw Ui hugging her arm, it had looked like it was Yui. She felt a flare of anger at herself but it was quickly quenched by Ui's eyes. There was so much compassion and sorrow in them.

"I'm sorry Ui, but I really am okay."

_I'm like glass to you huh, Ui chan. You can see right through me can't you?_

Azusa brushed off Ui's arms. "Seriously." She smiled at Ui, putting all her strength into it. She was pretty sure her dimples were showing and they were usually "cute" enough to distract people from her eyes.

Ui's eyes never faltered.

"Come on, people are going to start thinking we're weird if you keep staring at me like that…in the middle of the shopping district," she added.

Azusa started walking again and she could hear Ui's footsteps quietly following her from behind.

"You know, I'm always here Azusa. Anytime you want to talk and…If you don't take me up on it you'll be sorry!" said Ui firmly.

Azusa turned slightly to meet Ui's eyes. "Just a second Ui."

"Hmm?"

Azusa still had Ui's hairband in her pocket. She pulled it and tied up Ui's hair again, blushing slightly at the close proximity between their faces.

"Ui, you know what, I like the way you look with your hair tied up after all."

_Thank you for trying to cheer me up Ui. I won't forget it. _

She smiled and this time it was genuine.

* * *

A/N: short chapter but not done writing for tonight. When there's a good place to leave off, I just cut it there and everything is pretty much free styled with no planning so it surprises me what happens too. I think the music I'm listening is a big influence to what happens xD (The Fray for this chapter) But hmm, Azusa and Ui? ...hmm, not sure yet about that we'll see. I think Azusa is my 'dark mood' character, I just didn't feel like writing fluff tonight so I chose a more melancholy (in my story) character. Btw, thank you for your reviews...they're really encouraging...so onwards I write +___+


	21. Chapter 21: Mine

Mio felt rather childish as she added the finishing touches to her masterpiece. On Yui's left eye was a monocle, underneath her nose a rather well drawn monopoly moustache and of course thickened eyebrows. She stifled a giggle as she looked at Yui's sleeping face, _she looks surprisingly handsome, _thought Mio, holding her quivering stomach as she tried not to laugh outloud.

_If only I had a top hat for her...she would look like a magician or something._

It was well into the evening and the sunlight was pouring in through the cracks in the blinds. Mio walked over and opened them, flooding the room with light. "Yui, wake up. It's been over five minutes!"

"Nnngg?"

Yui's sleepy eyes fluttering open with the monocle and the mustache was too much for Mio. She burst out laughing, holding her stomach.

"What's so funny?" asked Yui sleepily, rubbing her eyes and smearing the eyeliner Mio used to draw on her face.

"Oh, it's nothing," replied Mio innocently, putting her hands behind her back. She tried hard not to laugh anymore than she had; she wondered what her parents would say about it when they went downstairs to eat.

Yui sat up and let out a sleepy sigh but the sight of Mio posing and giving her such a happy smile lit up her spirits. She was truly a dark haired beauty.

Mio slowly walked up towards her and gently pressed down on her shoulders, pushing her back on the bed.

"You know, you look really sexy right now," she said hesitantly, her voice trembling slightly.

"Oh?" Yui took this moment to strike a pose, stretching out her back and biting gently on the pinky nail of her left hand.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Mio had burst out laughing, holding her stomach and partially falling on top of her. Her head gently pressed against Yui's chest as she awkwardly keeled over, slowly filling up the awkward space with her body.

"What's gotten into you Mio?" asked Yui, wide eyed. She held her slightly trembling girlfriend and them smiled warmly, pulling her against her tighter. There were small tears in the corner of Mio's eyes but one of the happiest expressions she had ever seen on her face. It was a rare sight for Yui and she felt almost awestruck at Mio's natural charisma.

Mio closed her eyes and gently laid her head against Yui's shoulder, sighting contently as her laughter died out. "What was that about Mio?"

"It's nothing," said Mio softly, nuzzling her head against Yui's shoulder and adjusting herself into a more comfortable position. "I'm just really happy right now."

"Mmmm," replied Yui suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the taller girl. Something was fishy.

"Ne, Mio."

"Hm?" replied the bassist, looking up at Yui with an innocent expression.

Yui noticed the corners of Mio's lips trembling and narrowed her eyes again, feeling even more suspicious.

"Something's up Mio, and you're going to tell me what it is." The guitarist said dangerously, pushing Mio's shoulders and turning her on her back. She quickly straddled the taller girl, who immediately started laughing again. Yui's serious expression was too much for her.

"Something's on my face isn't it?" Yui said slowly, the pieces coming together. She had once drawn on Nodoka's face as a child and Mio's reaction was ringing an alarm bell somewhere in her memory.

The brown haired guitarist rolled off the bed and rushed to the mirror to look. After a few moments she couldn't help but grin at her reflection. She found herself giggling and she turned to face Mio who looked like a child who just got into big trouble for stealing cookies before dinner time.

"I'm gonna get you Mio!" said Yui dashingly, rushing towards the bed.

Mio led out a startled scream and started laughing again as Yui tackled her around the waist, her body thrashing about. Yui grinned as she struggled to pin down her girlfriend's arms.

"And now, for the big kiss."

"Nooooo!" screamed Mio, still giggling and turning her head away violently.

There were a few moments of silence and Yui had gone completely still. Mio who had clenched her eyes shut in fear slowly opened her eyes and turned her face towards Yui.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Yui triumphantly as she planted her lips on Mio's, closing the distance with her body too so she couldn't escape. Mio helplessly opened her mouth as Yui's tongue violated her mouth, moaning into the deep kiss and feeling the familiar sense of excitement from their bodies rubbing against each other. "Mmm, Yui," she whispered breathlessly as she looked into Yui's eyes. Her eyes slowly went up towards her thickened eyebrows and she felt her body starting to shake again from trying to not laugh.

"Jeez, we're not getting anywhere when I look like this huh?" asked Yui, disappointed.

Mio looked into Yui's eyes for several moments and tried to sit up. Yui shifted her weight and sat next to her so she could sit and leaned back on her hands, looking at Mio sheepishly.

"Are you mad?" asked Mio, looking down.

"Of course not," promptly replied Yui, looking a little surprised. "Come on Mio, who would get mad over this. Plus I got to see a side of you I've never seen before."

Mio blushed heavily, reflecting on her behavior. "No…it's just that…for a moment I thought you looked kind of upset…" said Mio slowly. It wasn't just her imagination, for a moment Yui's eyes had definitely gone dark…dark enough to sincerely surprise her.

Yui blinked and then smiled warmly. "It's nothing Mio…It's just that playing with you like this reminded me of someone."

Mio looked up again, surprised again. "Of who?"

Yui grinned, realizing she had just backed herself into a corner. "Well, me and Nodoka used to play like this but ever since we started High School, we haven't been as close."

"Oh…" said Mio, shifting her weight on the bed and looking into Yui's eyes. She wondered if 'playing like this' also involved deep kissing but it couldn't be…Still, ever since Yui told her there was somebody before her, she had become somewhat paranoid.

_I want you to be only mine…_thought Mio selfishly. She felt herself starting to feel depressed from the thought of somebody else enjoying Yui's soft puffy lips.

She stood up and ran to her dresser.

"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Yui in surprise as Mio quickly returned, pinning her down to the bed and kissing her softly. As she kissed her, she slowly started to unbutton Yui's dress shirt, parting it with with her hands and slipping it off over her shoulders. "Ne, Mio?" asked Yui again, surprised by Mio's unusual aggressiveness.

Yui blushed as Mio's soft lips made its way down to her neck, kissing gently. She shivered as she felt Mio's warm tongue on her neck. She gently placed a hand on Mio's head, her body shivering as Mio's kisses went down to her collarbone. She felt a slightly cold sensation on her stomach as Mio started to write something on her stomach with a marker.

"Mio…"

Mio looked up at Yui and when their eyes made contact, she leaned her head upwards and kissed her again furiously, her hand still scribbling out characters on Yui's stomach. Yui shivered as she felt the marker again, this time on the exposed portion of her left breast. Mio pushed Yui's lacy blue bra out of the way to finish her writing and then bent down her head to kiss that area gently, getting a slight moan out of Yui. "Ne…Mio…" repeated Yui dumbly as Mio lifted up Yui's skirt, exposing her laced panties. _She isn't going to do what I think she is _thought Yui with wide eyes as she saw Mio's head disappear partly out of sight. She felt kisses along her inner thigh and she shivered, feeling blood rush through her body and her adrenaline starting to pump. She felt the marker again on her other thigh and then a small clack as the marker was thrown across the room. Mio's flushed face reappeared and soon after the rest of her body as she jumped into the bed again with Yui, hugging her tightly. Yui glanced down at her bare stomach where Mio had written "mine."

Yui sighed, looking at Mio's vulnerable expression and kissed her nose gently, returning the hug. "You're so cute Mio chan."

"Hmph," Mio pouted, feeling embarrassed about her sudden outburst. She had never kissed anyone in some of those places and she was feeling lightheaded from her own daring.

"Of course I'm yours."

* * *

A/N rawr.


	22. Chapter 22: Y and M

"Stop clinging on to me. You're so annoying!" she screamed, holding her head in frustration.

Yui recoiled as if she had been slapped, her eyes blank. She hesitantly stepped forward, her best friend's form blurring from her tears. "Nodoka chan…I'm sorry…"

"Leave me alone!"

Nodoka glared at her and shoved her roughly and the next thing she knew, she was falling into darkness.

"Yui? Wake up…"

Yui opened her eyes to see Mio's concerned face hovering over her own, soft rock music playing from the headphones around her neck.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, her brows creasing in concern. Mio brushed some of Yui's bangs out of her eyes and held her cheek tenderly.

Yui looked up, touched and surprised to see moist tears starting to form in Mio's eyes.

"I'm okay, I think I just had a bad dream," replied Yui, starting to realize that her cheeks were wet from tears. _Oh no, I was crying huh._

Before she could think a second thought, Mio's lips closed on her own in a surprisingly passionate kiss. As quick as it started, it ended and Mio's warm eyes were in view again. Yui stared, forgetting to breath. Her eyes were so beautiful it still caught her by surprise sometimes. She felt lucky that she was the only one Mio made that cute face to.

Mio climbed on top of Yui, pressing her body against hers and nuzzled Yui's cheek with her nose. "I don't want you to be sad. I'm here for you so be happy okay?" The dark haired girl began to kiss the tears that were still welling up in Yui's eyes.

Yui grinned, closing her eyes and squirming a little bit. Mio's breath was hot on her skin and the smell of vanilla from Mio's shampoo filled her nostrils. She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock. It was still 4 AM and excitement filled her as she realized that she had another full day to spend with Mio. "It was a nightmare. I'm okay," replied Yui, reaching to hug Mio and squeeze her. As she squeezed she could feel more of Mio's skin against hers. Mio grabbed the blanket and pulled it over them both, Yui felt her breath become short from excitement as Mio's lips found her neck, kissing softly. Not being able to see anything and the sinful feeling of Mio's warm moist mouth closing on her sensitive skin drove her mind blank. Yui whimpered, one hand gently holding the back of Mio's head and her other hand gripping the sheets. It wasn't like Mio to be so aggressive. "Hey Mio, what's gotten into you?"

Mio paused and Yui could feel her breath against her face, even though she couldn't see her. She reached up and peeled the blankets back enough to expose their heads. "I just wanted to make you to be happy," replied Mio hesitantly, a light blush spread across her face at being called out and she looked to the side, unable to make direct eye contact. The light rock music playing from Mio's headphones continued softly in the background.

"I'm happy Mio. I show you every day how happy I am don't I?" responded Yui, gently pressing down on the back of Mio's head so their lips touched. Yui tilted her head after the first kiss and started kissing Mio's cheek in short rapid bursts. Mio giggled and shifted away.

"Why are you awake anyway?" asked Yui as Mio shifted off of her and laid on her side, her hand gently resting on Yui's waist. "I fell asleep but I woke up a couple hours ago. I couldn't go back to sleep so I was doing some writing…"

"Oh! Are you working on a new song for the band?"

Mio grinned. "No. It's a secret."

Yui pouted. "You know I don't like knowing about secrets. You might as well not say anything at all! It drives people crazy!" she exclaimed, her face becoming animated.

Mio smiled. "It's a good secret, you'll find out later."

"Well, now you have to make me happy again," said Yui in a slightly annoyed voice, turning her face away from Mio and rolling over on her side to face the opposite direction of Mio.

Mio had trouble with it at first but now she knew when Yui was joking and just wanted attention. The girl was insatiable but then again…so was she. Yui was the most powerful drug imaginable. It had been hard to not break the physical boundary rule they had made up together to keep their relationship innocent. Yui had insisted on it but her self control was weakening. Everytime they kissed and felt each other they both took it a little further and the excitement and suspense drove Mio crazy. It was like a contest to see who had enough self control to stop it first. She thought back to when they first started making out and experimenting. It had been so intense and scary then but now, whenever she wasn't with Yui she craved it. Mio smiled to herself. Good thing she was tired, she could be very patient.

Mio turned away so her back also faced Yui's. "Well if you don't want me, then I'm going to sleep. Oyasumi."

Yui immediately turned around and clung onto Mio. "Noo, play with me. Please?" she begged. Yui knew exactly how to start up Mio, it was the easiest thing in the world since she was so sensitive. She blew lightly on Mio's ear and bit it gently with her teeth, her hand reaching down to pull up Mios long t-shirt, feeling the soft skin of her stomach.

Mio trembled, biting her lip to stop herself from moaning but she couldn't resist. "Ahh…Yui," she whimpered, arching her back and turning her head to glance over her shoulder at her brown haired girlfriend. Yui looked into her eyes for a moment and then attacked her neck, sucking gently on Mio's pale skin. Mio moaned again, arching her back as Yui's hands traveled playfully in circles underneath Mio's shirt, rubbing her skin. Mio bit her lip as Yui's hand slipped underneath her bra to cup her bare breast, caressing it gently. The sensation drove her crazy and she could feel a hot moisture building up between her legs. She clamped her knees shut to fight the sensation but Yui started to climb on top of her, one of her legs forcefully separating her legs. "I love you Mio," whispered Yui gently into her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine. Mio opened her mouth as Yui's tongue forced its way inside, doing her best to match Yui's passion and breathe at the same time.

"I'm going to have marks all over my neck tomorrow." Mio complained as Yui started to kiss her jaw, slowly making her way to Mio's neck. She gasped as Yui's mouth closed down on her sensitive neck. "Ah, Yui. You meanie," she pouted, doing her best upset face.

"So, what's the big secret?" asked Yui, still curious. They stared at each other in the dim light for several moments, listening to each other's breathing and the soft sounds of a rock band playing from Mio's ipod.

"Is that stereopony?" asked Yui, tilting her head.

"Yeah, I really like them," replied Mio, blushing and feeling relieved for the change of topic. "I like the bass and drums in their songs."

"But not the guitar huh?" responded Yui, smirking as she tilted Mio's head back and bit down on her exposed neck. "I'm going to leave lots of marks."

"Ah, stop. please," begged Mio, gasping from the moist sensation of Yui's tongue and seriously thinking about what the other k-on members would say if she had a bunch of hickeys when they went into practice on Monday. She turned red, thinking about how badly she would get teased. Yui started to suck gently and Mio knew she would have at least one mark to cover up. _At least I have long hair..._ thought Mio as she closed her eyes and gave in, letting Yui have her way with her.

Yui gently cupped the headphones and put them over Mio's ears. Mio looked up, music filling her ears as Yui's sweet lips descended on hers again.

Music and Yui...she thought to herself, smiling into the kiss. _If my life could just be filled with those two things I'll always be happy. _


	23. Chapter 23: Missing you

Ui sighed, leaning her cheek against her right hand which was propped up on the small table that her and Yui generally ate breakfast at. It was the fourth night she had went through the trouble of cooking her sister's favorite foods and it was the fourth night that Yui hadn't bothered to show up, despite the fact that she said she would. _You're such a meanie big sis…_ she thought as poked at a beautifully decorated home made cake she had made earlier.

Yui had been spending the night over at Mio's house recently and the loneliness was starting to get to her. She looked around the big living room and curled her knees in, staring at the cold food on the table. It didn't matter if mom and dad were never around, when Yui was here it was always a bright place. Now that she wasn't here, Ui had started to feel a slowly suffocating panic that gripped at her heart. There was that and how Azusa was acting funny these days. _Oh, I don't know what it is that's making me feel this way…_she thought, helplessly.

She couldn't help but feel a little abandoned by Yui and when she had been brave enough to try and become good friends with Azusa, there was a whole lot of complicated feelings and sadness that surrounded her. Ui had tried her best to understand but when in all honestly, the way Azusa had started acting these days had mostly just confused her. One moment she would be smiling and talking animatedly with her. In another moment she would look sad and seem to forget Ui was even there. _Moh, I'll make you notice me next time you do that,_ Ui thought to herself angrily.

The young brown haired girl sighed and started cleaning up the dishes on the table. Routine always helped take her mind off of things. She started bringing the dishes over to the kitchen and started to carefully plastic wrap them up. _Brighten up Ui, its no big deal…_ she chastised herself as she started putting away the dishes into the refrigerator. She frowned when she realized there was not enough room because of the accumulation from all the fresh meals she had cooked from the past couple days. _Why do I even bother wrapping these up when I would cook a fresh meal again anyways? _She leaned against the kitchen counter, her head bowing a little bit from exasperation and let out a big sigh. This big house was choking her without anyone around. Maybe she liked having somebody to take care of.

Maybe she was still immature and going to bed all alone in a big house gave her the creeps. _Maybe I'm the one that needs you the most Oneechan_…

Ui found herself walking upstairs towards Yui's room and without thinking about it, plopped onto the bed. She grabbed Yui's pillow and hugged it tight against her lithe body, falling on to her side and closing her eyes tight. She sighed, the smells in the room and the texture of the pillow…it was like Yui was right here with her. She buried her head into the pillow and felt hot tears start to come to her eyes. "Onee chan baka." she whispered to herself, wiping small tears that had started to form in her eyes. She took a deep breathe and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She was about to speed dial Yui but changed her mind last minute. From what she understood from what Azusa had said, Yui was dating Mio now and she didn't want to bother them. She would eventually come home and everything would be fine again either way. Right now, she just didn't want to feel so alone.

* * *

Azusa threw her pick into the trashcan. It was the third pick she had broken in the past hour.. _What the hell is up with all these flimsy picks? _she thought, reaching for a fresh one and leaning back onto her bed. Her guitar was gently cradled in her hands and she started playing again, lost in a trance.

The sweet sounds from the guitar filled up her room and she closed her eyes, feeling content. Sometimes nothing felt better than playing alone. Making up whatever. Making her guitar sing sweet nothings to her. Earlier she had poured her soul into it, and she had created some beautiful but melancholy melodies.

Maybe she would play them for Yui sometime. _Maybe it'd be easier for her to understand what she did to me if she could hear this now…_Azusa sat up, still playing and glanced in the mirror across from the bed. Her thin arms, her pale skin, her dark eyes and hair that cascaded down her shoulders. _I look like a little doll…_Azusa thought, frowning and making a face at herself. She had thought that this year she looked a little more mature. A little older…A little cuter. She felt that she had become more talented too, her guitar playing was starting to become very impressive…but it felt like it was for nothing. _Even if I grow up to be more attractive and even better of a guitar player, I can't have what I want._ "

Its such a shame," Azusa said out loud as she picked up the pace, trying to desperately distract herself from her vain and fruitless thoughts. She watched the way the strings vibrated as she picked at them, her calloused fingertips dancing across the frets. "Ah, jeez, I'm so bored." she stopped playing and leaned against her pillows, gently cradling her guitar in her arms. "Maybe I'll call Ui…" Azusa thought to herself, staring at the ceiling. It was true that she had been depressed lately. Even now, she felt heartbroken and empty. It felt like a pile of bricks were slowly sinking into her chest and she clutched her guitar even tighter. Her guitar was like Yui, even if it hurt to go on pretending to be happy in the light music club, she couldn't ever let it go. _But still, I seriously need to get out of the house of I'll drive myself crazy, _thought Azusa, reaching for her phone.

She was just about to dial Ui's number when her phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Azu-nyan!"

Azusa jumped, feeling her heart start to race.

"Yui sempai?"

"Ah, yeah its me. I just wanted to make sure you were coming to our special practice tommorow." came Yui's voice through the phone.

Azusa felt her face flush, even though she got rejected, it was still her first love she was talking to. _Why did it have to happen this way? _thought Azusa sadly, starting to feel angry at herself for letting that crazy unreasonable feeling into her heart. And then being too immature to realize that it would ..._consume me completely..._

"Yeah...of course I am...Have you even been practicing at all Yui sempai?"

"Not that much, that's why I wanted to jam with you for a bit Azu-nyan. You can help right? Our concert is coming up and Mio's been yelling at me to get my parts down right."

_Mio sempai..._Azusa found it surprisingly hard to be resentful of Mio sempai. She was cute and helpful, mature and childish at the same time. She had always admired her but ...

"O-okay sempai. Lets meet in the club room after dinner like usual then."

"Sure. Take care of yourself Azu-nyan" came Yui's cheerful voice.

Azusa felt the phone click from Yui's end and sighed, sinking back into her bed.

* * *

Ui sighed. She had tried to call Azusa twice but it was a busy signal both times. She tucked herself into her older sister's bed and closed her eyes, praying for sleep.


	24. Chapter 24: Shoot to the Soul

Beautiful. That chord was the chord of the day, Yui decided as she happily played it over and over. She played a quick rift that accompanied the chord and strung it again, smiling childishly.

"Yui-sempai?" came a voice from the door. Yui glanced over and smiled at Azusa. "Hey you!"

Her smile dissipated slightly as she fought the urge to run up to the little guitarist and hug her, nuzzle her cheek with her nose and make her blush. The last time she did that, she saw Azusa's eyes start to water and her brow furrow in pain. The memory had stuck.

It made Yui kind of gloomy realizing she couldn't do things like that to Azusa anymore. The younger guitarist was dolled up, her hair tied back in her signature style and faint traces of mascara on her eyelashes. _She has the cutest eyes…well, second cutest_, thought Yui starting to smile again as Azusa set down her guitar case. It took all she had to just stand there instead of glomping her.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, don't we Yui-sempai." said Azusa, sighing as she slung the guitar strap over her shoulder.

The younger girl sat on the couch and started to tune her guitar, listening intently to the notes. Yui stopped playing so Azusa could tune properly and skipped over to her, plopping down on the couch. "So, how was your day?"

"Mine was fine. Thanks." replied Azusa, playing a G chord on her guitar and then smiling in satisfaction. "Wanna run through the scales really fast?"

Yui hit a G chord and smiled as the notes sang out together from the two guitars. "No way, that's boring." Yui complained as she started playing what she knew of their new piece. Azusa automatically started playing the accompanying melody to Yui's and they played together, intently focusing on their timing for about thirty seconds before Azusa abruptly stopped.

"Sempai!" exclaimed Azusa in horror. "You're improvising all of it! You were supposed to know the notes. The concert is at the end of this week!"

"Well, it sounds okay doesn't it?" Yui asked, her lips pouting slightly.

Azusa blushed and looked away, cursing at herself. Every little expression Yui made, the way her lips looked when she pouted… it was making her lose her breath.

"It sounds okay…Ne, Yui. Do you think we can play that song?" asked Azusa quietly.

Yui glanced up and smiled, brushing a strand of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear. "The one that you wrote Azu-nyan?"

"Yeah…you didn't learn it at all did you?" complained Azusa, frowning.

"Sorry, I know I promised I would learn it on my own but I've been so busy." Yui smiled apologetically. "But I promise I'll do my best!"

Azusa sighed. She hoped Yui had been practicing it since she wrote it a long time ago. Still, Yui was a genius when it came to playing something by ear. It took much less time if she just listened, watched, and followed along as Azusa played. _I guess since I composed this one it isn't too bad of a problem _thought Azusa as she started playing the notes from the beginning. Azusa played through the song a couple times and let Yui follow along. The older girl followed along easily and they only paused several times to go over the rifts slowly. Within ten minutes she could play her part of the entire song without help.

"I did it!" Yui exclaimed as she played through the entire piece with only minor errors. "Azusa, can I learn all the songs like this from now on?"

"That's not fair Sempai!" exclaimed Azusa, but she smiled seeing Yui's happy face. She even felt her mood lighten up as if a cloud was lifting up her heart. "Let's play our two parts together now, okay?" said Yui excitedly.

The harmony from the first couple chords gave Yui goose bumps. They didn't go away as the two girls played through the opening. It was beautiful the way the two guitars sang together, allegro or adagio. All the parts came together and harmonized perfectly. Yui kept time, tapping her right foot against the ground and closed her eyes, enjoying the melodies. It was something out of this world to play music together with another person. It made her forget everything except the notes, the sounds, the feeling in her heart and the vibrations in her fingers. She opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of Azusa. The little guitarist was looking down at the floor as she played, tears streaming down her cheeks. Yui stopped playing and felt guilt well up in her chest as she listened to Azusa fight her sobs. "Azu-nyan…"

Azusa panicked and tried to play louder but since Yui had suddenly dropped out, her part sounded lonely. She stopped playing and wiped her eyes, feeling embarrassed. "Yui sempai. I …was thinking about you when I wrote this song…I'm sorry, I'll snap out of it. I feel so stup--"

Yui slung off her guitar and hugged Azusa, squeezing her tightly.

"It's not stupid, I really like this song." declared Yui loudly.

Azusa closed her eyes and started cursing in her head to distract herself from the feeling that was strangling her heart. She thought of all the bad words she knew, strung together in odd combinations that sounded funny, even to her.

_I'm okay…I'm an idiot…but I'm okay…_

Azusa gently pushed Yui away and edged away, putting space between them. She sighed, realizing there was probably mascara smeared on her face. _I promised I wouldn't cry in front of you anymore. What am I doing? _The song they had just played reminded Azusa of sitting in her room composing the piece. Back when she felt like she still had a distant chance of being together with Yui. All the hours she spent making sure each note was perfect, her feelings for Yui wrapped into each melody. When they had played it together it had shot straight to her soul like it was injected.

"Ano, I'm okay. Let's finish practicing." said Azusa. Yui's eyes always showed her emotions like bright beacons. She knew she was hurting Yui by being weak. "Are you sure you're okay Azu-nyan?" Azusa could hear pity in Yui's voice and she hated it. "Yeah, I just needed to get it out of my system you know…"

"That sounded really good!"

Yui glanced up at the door and her eyes brightened. "Mio!"

Mio grinned from the doorway and headed towards them. "I heard it from the hallway while I was heading over here. Can I practice with you guys?"

Azusa took a deep breath and stood up, turning to face her senior. "Mio sempai! Please do."

"Are you okay Azusa chan? You look like you've been crying." said Mio worriedly as she rushed over, placing her hands on Azusa's shoulders and peering intently at her face. _Another beautiful sempai_ thought Azusa as the close proximity with Mio forced her to notice all the nice features that overshadowed hers. "I'm okay Mio-sempai." Azusa replied, glancing away. "It was just that the music really touched me…" _Kami-sama, stop me from sounding so lame please… _

Mio exchanged glances with Yui and Azusa realized for a moment that they were probably going to talk about her later. That, and Yui told Mio about their special practices and it was something that the two of them had always shared. She never felt like escaping so much in her life.

"Well, I brought my bass. Lets get to work!"\

* * *

AN: Thanks for everyone who's been keeping up with this story despite the long waits between chapters. I'm going to try to finish this story I swear. The way I write though, the story progresses very slowly and I have so many things that need to happen ....but that's my style. Massive schoolwork doesn't help either. Hopefully you guys are enjoying it though. Thanks for reading, thanks for the reviews. Until next chapter :] -lolsama


	25. Chapter 25: Morning with you

"No…Mio…I-"

Ritsu's eyes fluttered open, her heart pounding against her chest.

_Wow…What an awful dream…_

…_Terrible dream, I give it a one out of ten…_she added after taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. She realized that she had sat up in her bed and noticed moonlight glistening off her pale skin through the window blinds. She brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen over her eyes and held her head, groaning slightly. "Mio…"

She glanced around the dimly lit room, trying to recall more details other than the horrible sight of her best friend's broken expression, . She sighed as she fell back against the pillows. _Yeah…big fluffy, just the way I like them._ Ritsu thought as she flipped the pillow around to the cold side. She took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling, still feeling a little groggy. She spent a couple minutes staring blankly at the ceiling, trying to clear her head.

_Okay, so lets think…_

Ritsu blushed a little bit as she recalled…Mio's pale skin…her soft lips, her warm body…It was good until the end. _I want a refund_, groaned the young drummer as she covered her face with her hands, remembering the nightmarish details towards the end. For some reason she felt like she was suffocating. "Wow this has got to stop." Ritsu complained loudly, cutting off her own thoughts. She quickly covered her mouth, realizing if she was too loud her younger brother would hear through the wall. _Why in the world, out of all the places to put rooms in this house, do our rooms have to be right next to each other?_…_Jeez… _

Ritsu glanced at the clock. There was still a couple hours until she had to get up for school but the dream had gotten her heart racing. _Maybe I"ll sneak out for a smoke? _she thought to herself. Ritsu rolled off the bed and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Her disheveled hair and thin body made her look like a rock star. _Oh yeah, you are so sexy…_thought Ritsu, striking a pose.

She walked towards the closet and reached into the pocket of an old ugly jacket she never wore for her cigarettes. It was a pretty good place to hide things since she did her own laundry.

* * *

_Mio pouted. "Ritsu! I thought I told you to stop smoking those things!" Ritsu rubbed the back of her head ashamed. "Its just that you know…when I get stressed out, I want one. And besides, don't you think they make you look cool? "They don't make you look cool at all!"_

_

* * *

  
_

Ritsu sighed and slowly started to sneak out of her room.

_Think light weight thoughts…light thoughts….clouds….low fat yogurt…marshmellows… _A loud creaking noise suddenly reverberated throughout the house. _Shit. These fucking stairs…_ Ritsu cursed in her head as she quietly made the rest of the trip down to her front door.

She let out a deep breath and then glanced up. The drummer stared quietly at one of her most hated mortal enemies, and glared ominously. _If you make a single sound, I am going to make you pay, you stupid door. I'm a human being and you're just a stupid door. So cooperate with me okay?_ she warned in her head as she gently turned the knob and pulled it open.

A loud groan of protest immediately came from the door and Ritsu gritted her teeth. Her mom was a light sleeper and it had been extremely hard to throw her off the trail when she claimed she had smelled cigarette smoke off of Ritsu's clothes that one time. She felt a light, encouraging breeze from outside so she bravely yanked the door open just enough for her to squeeze through and closed it quietly behind her. "Whew, now that that's out of the way…" Ritsu sat down on the stairs, glancing out at the dim early morning sky.

She pulled a cigarette out of her pack and stared at it silently. It had been a long time since a sempai she looked up to asked if she wanted to share one with her. But ever since Mio had found out she had quit immediately…_because I wanted her to like me…_thought Ritsu, grinning whimsically.

Recently she had been sneaking out at night to smoke by herself. It was self destructive tendency but it somehow helped her cope with recent changes to her life. Ever since Mio started dating Yui, she had been feeling lonely. It almost felt like her best friend had been stolen away…although it was Yui who took her. It was strange, Ritsu had always felt like a kindred spirit to Yui. Yui was the only one who always laughed at Ritsu's antics, played along with her and had been a wonderful friend over the past few years. She smiled, thinking back to the first couple days when they had first met the ditzy air headed girl. _Yui, you are one of a kind…_ Ritsu thought, flipping the zippo open.

The flame shone out in the darkness and Ritsu took a drag, lighting the cigarette.

_Mio…_Ritsu thought of her best friend again. It was strange, they had always been best friends. They had always talked about everything together. _So why didn't I see this coming at all? Hah, probably because she didn't either… _

_At least she seems happy now…_

Ritsu brought her knees together as a chilly wind blew by and shuddered slightly. She almost wished Mio would randomly show up to chastise her about smoking. _Look Mio, I'm being a bad girl. Come and stop me. _thought Ritsu sadly as she took another drag.

_Moh, we're still friends right? Why am I being this way? _She had to admit she was jealous. It was strange, the little things about having Mio around all the time that she missed. The comfortable silences, the arguments, and the one thing that had become the most precious to Ritsu over the years. Making Mio laugh.

Ritsu couldn't help but smile herself, remembering Mio's laughter as she executed a particularly clever joke. _Those were the best times huh? When it was just us two… _

Still, she couldn't regret meeting the members of the light music club. They were all precious to her now. They shared a dream, they stood by her through good times and bad…Mugi's caring warmth, Azusa's fierce focus, Yui's light hearted antics and Sawako sensei's guidance.

That and the many classmates and fans that had begun to show their support. _Budokan! We're coming! _thought Ritsu encouragingly to herself.

She took another drag and let out a deep sigh, watching the smoke dissipate into the dark sky. She found some solace in the quiet emptiness of the early morning. It wasn't the same picture she had always imagined. She had always thought that they would go on forever the way they had, the best of friends. Now that Mio and Yui were together, it made her feel like there was a rift between them at times. She could tell at practices too, how unintentionally Mio and Yui would share looks with each other and have conversations that distanced the other members.

Azusa too had a sad look on her these days. Still, their chemistry was as good as ever when they played. _Ritsu, you're good at keeping our rhythm together!_ Mio had said. _Yeah, you're like our band's heartbeat Ritsu! _chimed Yui right after, giving that big happy grin she always wore when she was happy. _Moh, okay already I'm happy for you two. Jeez… _thought Ritsu in response to her own memories, ashing over the railing onto the grass.

Despite that things were different, when they played together it wasn't so bad. They were still the same people she had grown to love over the years…it was like the combined music of their band healed all of Ritsu's anxiety and loneliness, but when they stopped, the pain in her heart would return. She would feel lonely again, watching Yui and Mio walk out of practice together, leaving her behind with the others. It made her want to practice more than ever…to forget the pain. _Ah, its like these cigarettes. I just need a fix of music sometimes…_thought Ritsu, thinking herself clever for making the connection. _A Music high…._

It was true that it felt good. She blinked a couple times, realizing something. _The school concert is tomorrow!! _She jumped up. _We should have a sleepover practice tonight! _

Ritsu took another drag and started walking out to the street to flick her cigarette into a nearby gutter. _Still, whenever I feel this way Mio would always be there to comfort me but…will she answer me even now? _She smiled thinking about all the times that Mio had called her at random hours, waking her and talking animatedly about something or the other. There were so many times when they had both snuck out to hang out past bedtime. Ritsu patted her sides, checking for her cell phone. _Hah! I left it in here before going to sleep and just fell asleep…_It was rare, but sometimes it paid to be lazy. She sighed, wondering if Mio would still answer and sneak out with her even now.

She was kind of scared to find out.

"Maybe I'll go by myself this time?" said Ritsu out loud, thinking about their secret meeting place. _It'll just make you sad Ritsu, don't go…_she thought, hesitating.

She paused for a split second, before setting off in a light jog down the street.

When they were younger Mio had printed out a map and they had figured out a place that lay right in the middle of their two homes. It was kind of a long walk but they had always met there in the past, back when they were younger. Familiar scenery started to fly past Ritsu as she increased her pace, along with memories.

_The time that Mio was stressed out by her parents…The time that she needed a break from studying…or when she couldn't sleep because she heard a scary story…the time when Ritsu had gotten teased by some kids at school and was feeling down…the time Mio got upset because she thought I found a boyfriend…the time we wanted to share our first kiss when we were little kids…_

Ritsu stood panting, taking in deep breaths of fresh morning air and holding her hands behind her head, the way she had been taught to breath after running from gym class. _Of course she's not here stupid_ she thought to herself a little sadly as she glanced around the small playground. It was located in the middle of a neighborhood that lay in between theirs.

Ritsu sighed, starting to catch her breath and sat down on a swing. "Mio…I miss you." she said out loud, still a little winded from the run. "But we'll always be friends you know? I'm the same old Ritsu." She paused, feeling a little crazy but it felt good for some reason. "I wish you were here right now to play with me…You could even tell me about how fun it is to have someone to love."

She paused again, feeling sweat trickle down her neck. _I probably look like a crazy person, sitting at a playground in the early morning with messed up hair and still wearing pajamas…Still look pretty sexy I bet though. _

Ritsu smiled, her natural optimistic mood shining through again. "Mio, I'm going to call you. Please don't turn me down!" Her heart raced as she hit the 5 key on her cell phone. She had picked it because it was the key in the center of the cell phone number pad and it had seemed like the most important one.

She held her breath as the phone started ringing. To her amazement, Mio picked up almost immediately.

"Ritsu? What are you doing calling me this early?"

"Ah, Mio. Ano, uh…I wasn't sure you were gonna pick up so…"

"Jeez, Ritsu. Don't just call randomly if you have nothing to talk about." came Mio's voice, slightly irritated.

_But I do…Mio…_thought Ritsu a little sadly. She suddenly realized that she had paused for too long.

"Uh, Mio. Wait ahah…"

_Wait, why am I panicking now? _

"Hmm?" Mio's voice was kind, and it uplifted Ritsu's spirits.

"You know, I couldn't sleep well, I thought talking with you might cheer me up." said Ritsu lamely, laughing and rubbing the back of her head even though no one was there.

"Hehe, of course no problem." Mio's voice was surprisingly gentle.

"Have you been awake too?" Ritsu asked, swinging her legs slightly. The slowly started to rock back and forth on the swing set.

"Yea, I was studying for a while and fell asleep…then I woke up and was writing in my lyrics book."

"Oh a cool new song?" asked Ritsu cheerfully.

"Yeah…I should call it Don't be Lazy, jeez. Me and Azusa gave Yui lots of homework but I bet she's not going to do any of it, like usual."

"Hahah, what's that?"

"Oh, just like technical music terminology and the proper names of instrument parts and things like that. She's so clueless still…"

"Ah, I see." Ritsu responded, slowing down slightly. Her feet hit the ground and the swing stopped swinging. The chains of the swing felt chilly all of a sudden.

"Ritsu, you're lonely huh? I'm sorry I haven't been over as much…" came Mio's voice through the phone.

_So you can see right through me, huh? _

"Looks like you still know me the best, huh Mio chan?"

"Of course I do…would you feel better if I didn't talk about me and Yui?" the bassist asked.

"No no, I want all the juicy details. There might be a market for it one day you know!"

"Hey you!!" came Mio's voice, followed by laughter. Ritsu smiled herself, it made her happy hearing her best friend laugh.

"But some things never change huh?" Mio said quietly.

"Yeah…and they won't, I think. Are you happy these days?"

"Mmm…yeah. I am Ritsu."

"So what's Yui like in bed?"

"Ritsu! You're so perverted! Why would you ask me something like that!" came Mio's panicked reply.

"Hahah, no I just wanted to hear how you would respond." said Ritsu jokingly. "You know, talking to you like this…I'm glad we can still do this."

"Why couldn't we? We're still best friends aren't we?"

"Nope. Yui's going to be your new best friend very soon I bet."

"Ritsu, don't be silly. You'll always be my best friend." Mio's voice sounded kind of hurt and Ritsu kind of regretted her last few words.

"Well, You know what I mean…ne, Mio chan…you think we're going to make it as a band?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Its just, you know. If you go to college…and maybe me and Yui won't get in…"

"That's why I'm always telling you two to study! If we don't go to the same university I'm going to cry…"

"I won't make you cry Mio! I'll try really hard…but wouldn't it be nice if we could just go on playing like this? I'm kind of scared of what's going to happen after high school…"

_What if I lose you twice?_

"That reminds me, I need to get on Yui's case more too about studying…sigh you two are always so hopeless…"

_Eh, she had kind of a point there…_

Ritsu leaned back in the swing seat and sighed, content. It was fun talking to Mio, it felt like it had been ages since they had even talked on the phone like this. She started to rock back and forth on the swings, watching the ground pass underneath her feet as she chatted animately with Mio.

"Hahah, you would joke about something like that!" laughed Mio. Ritsu found herself smiling too.

"Hey, our concert's tomorrow. We should practice a lot tonight!" said Ritsu animatedly.

"I know. Me and Azusa chan were talking about that earlier too."

"It's our last one at school. We should make it a blast!"

"We will. Definitely…"

"Ne, are you at home right now?" asked Ritsu.

"Where else would I be? Its like 4 in the freaking morning. Kami sama help me fix my sleep schedule. I'll do anything. Anything."

"I don't know, I was thinking to myself and I came to…"

Ritsu looked up in surprise as she heard distant footsteps. Mio sighed and put her hands on her waist. "I knew you would be here."

Ritsu slowly lowered the phone and stared dumbly at her best friend. She was wearing a cute pink hoody and blue and white pajama pants, a slightly sad expression on her face.

"Ritsu, why would you do this? It made me so sad thinking about you sitting alone in this place."

Ritsu stood up and before she knew it, Mio had run up to her and embraced her tightly in a warm hug. "I'm not going anywhere Ritsu, I promise. So be cheerful and be your normal self okay?"

Ritsu felt tears start to well up but she fought them back, smiling bravely. "Yeah, you caught me. Okay."

Mio's gentle hands wiped away the small tears that had formed at the corner of her eyes as she peered intently at Ritsu's face, concern lining her brow. It meant the world to Ritsu that Mio still cared, and had even ventured out here without telling her just to check if she was there. She felt happiness welling up from inside her. Mio smiled as she ruffled Ritsu's hair a little bit. "You know, you look kind of cool with your hair down."

"No way, I look weird!" complained Ritsu, suddenly becoming self conscious. She patted her own hair and glanced down at the ground.

"Just like a boy." teased Mio, nudging Ritsu gently with her elbow.

"Ah, Don't say that! I'm sexy you know."

"Pfft." Mio glanced at Ritsu mischievously and then broke out into a giggle. "You know, I always thought it was kind of scary outside when it's dark. I don't know how you can be so brave all the time."

"Well, I had to be brave for a certain scaredy cat I know." joked Ritsu, smiling at Mio.

Mio smiled back. "Oh, about that concert, lets make it a blast!"

Ritsu leaned forward to embrace Mio again, leaning her head against the taller girls shoulder. "Thanks for coming Mio…and you know it! We will for sure, and after that its Budokan!"

* * *

A/N: The pace is slow but I'm really enjoying writing this story again. Sorry for the slow updates and thanks to everyone who's still reading!

I was debating whether or not to include any lemon in this story... I feel like it cheapens stories sometimes but, I kind of wanted this to be a realistic-ish story about how a relationship would naturally progress so I'm learning towards writing it out. D:

gasp...

:D

The story will continue, Please be patient :P

Until next update~lolsama


	26. Chapter 26: Anticipation!

Its been a long time : )

Since I've been gone for two years, **I'm going to fast forward a bit to the future**. Past events will occur as recollections or reflections of current day characters. Read the bottom comments for more information. Special thanks to Truner for reminding me about formatting and such.

* * *

Mio sighed as she leaned back in her chair, her exam finished.

_Man it feels good to be done_, she thought.

The beautiful raven haired girl glanced around the classroom and noticed that she was probably the first one finished.

She pushed her legs against the ground and stood up, grabbing her test and started to head towards the front of the room. "Here sensei, I'll see you tomorrow," she said politely, bowing slightly.

Keisuke sensei grinned, "Wow that was fast Mio, on top of your studies as usual I see. Yep, see you tomorrow Kiddo." Mio smiled politely and made her exit from the classroom and started to walk down the hallway lost in thought. _Yui…I can't wait to see you..._

Her heartbeat quickened and her pace started to pick up, it took all her self control to not sprint down the hallway, leap down the stairs, tumble and back handspring her way out the door wa-_okay Mio, now your imagination is getting the better of you,_She thought, giggling slightly to herself at the ridiculous thought.

As soon as she reached the exit of the Pharmaceutical Sciences building she reached into her school jacket pocket to call Yui.

"Moshi Moshhh," came Yui's delighted voice from the other end.

"Yui…I miss you so much," Mio said, smiling happily from hearing her love's voice on the other end.

"I miss you too baby, are we still meeting tomorrow?"

"Of course we are," responded Mio, pulling her jacket closer as she started to make her way towards her apartment. "I've been looking forward to it for what seems like…forever!" she exclaimed.

"Don't be silly cutie, It's only been a month you know," responded Yui nonchalantly.

"But a month is a long time isn't it?" responded Mio, feeling slightly irritated. "I sometimes feel like you don't miss me at all!"

It was true, Yui was absentminded and easily distracted.

Whatever was in front of the brown haired guitarist usually occupied most of her attention and it turned out Yui easily got bored of long conversations on the phone. Long distance relationships were definitely not her strong suit.

It wasn't as if Yui was purposely trying to sabotage the relationship but sometimes her carelessness and forgetfulness really hurt Mio.

"Don't be ridiculous Mio, I've been thinking about you every day you know!" Yui said in her self proclaimed 'strong and sincere' voice. "Besides, we have to celebrate your 3rd year at Tokyo U! I'll bring my guitar and we can totally jam out!"

Mio smiled, tomorrow she would see her lover and they had the apartment all to themselves for the entire weekend. It would be like living as a married couple. Mio's face flushed as she thought about _Yui's slender calloused fingers, her warm tongue…her…_

Mio blushed fiercly as she picked up the pace, she didn't want to be feeling this way when she got on the metro to her apartment.

Mio's breath came out in small clouds of condensation and she smiled, letting happiness wash over her. Pretty soon, she could have a stable job as a pharmacist, buy a house for her and Yui…fund the band and help make connections with record labels…she could do anything if she worked hard enough.

The dark haired bassist formed a fist and pumped it in the air before blushing furiously as a couple walking by stopped to stare at her.

Mio smiled awkwardly and hurried past them, picking up her pace slightly. These days it was extremely hard not to attract attention.

In the few years that had passed since her keion highschool days, she had grown a few inches, her rigorous exercise schedule kept her waist very slender while her body filled out nicely in other areas.

Her face especially had slimmed down a bit and lost some of its childlike pudginess, giving her a more mature look. Guys and girls alike would confess to her daily or ask her to come out to parties and social events and it didn't help that she was a minor celebrity for being the bass player in the K-on band. Seniors from the University's light music band constantly asked her to stop by and practice and it was the only extracurricular activity she would indulge in once in a while.

Despite all of the attempts from her classmates to socialize, Mio would politely refuse each day and remind herself to stay focused on her and Yui's future, the success of their band and maintaining this long distance relationship.

Mio had to admit it was hard at times and whether she liked it or not… she sometimes felt a strange longing to just let loose and party it up with her classmates once in a while.

Mio sighed, pushing away her longing and focused her mind on Yui. _Yui…you keep me going…I couldn't have done this if I didn't have you… _She smiled a little bit, feeling encouraged and headed her way into the metro station.

Yui on the other hand had not done so well on her college entrance exams and was living at home as a ronin.

Her parents seemed wealthy though so she wasn't particularly stressed but it irritated Mio that her girlfriend lazed around the house eating all day while she struggled each day to make…_well, I guess in the end they're my dreams. She's just happy being with me isn't she…_

Mio sighed, thinking about her girlfriend.

Yui had transformed dramatically over the past few years. The young girl stayed amazingly slender despite her complete lack of diet and exercise and had lost all of her cute pudginess.

Yui's healthy brown hair now hung down to her back in a similar style to Mio's old hair and she often tied it up rocker style, copying popular bands and trends and sometimes dying parts of it different colors.

She only grew an inch or so since highschool so she still looked very young in Mio's opinion but she looked a lot prettier now nonetheless. The greatest change was Yui's guitar playing. She was a prodigy back then and with a few years of practice, she was notorious throughout all of Japan.

Because of Yui, their band had been the main attraction of celebrity talk shows and they had even been invited to some comedy gag shows that they had politely declined. Instead of studying and working hard, Yui had become successful through polishing her raw talent alone, something Mio had to admit she was a bit jealous of.

As she sat down on an empty street on the metro, she sighed again thinking back to the day she announced her decision to temporarily quit the band and to go on to college.

Ritsu had completely flipped out, going on a rant with Yui excitedly repeating Ritsu's various comments while jumping up and down behind her about how this was the best time to make it. Mugi and Azusa completely supported her though and convinced the other two that they would make it eventually anyhow. Afterall, they would always be friends…_right?_

Mio sighed, realizing that it was her fault that the band hadn't met in over six months and despite her best efforts, staying in contact with Ritsu, Mugi and Azusa was becoming decidedly more difficult.

She closed her eyes and hummed the lyrics of their latest single, 'Don't say Lazy' to herself, tapping her foot gently to the rhythm.

_Come on Mio…Ritsu pleaded, grabbing her sleeve and looking at her with puppy dog eyes. "We can do it I know we can…"_

Mio blinked her eyes open at the memory and smiled slightly. _We will be the best rock gods in Japan Ritsu…be patient._

* * *

EDIT: I felt bad about being lazy and rushed about this fic so I went back, did some research and plan on putting a bit more effort into it.

Review with grammar/plot hole fixes so I can go back and edit. Revising my chapters with feedback from the readers is a major part of my story creation process. As usual I am speed-writing without a whole lot of pre-planning.

lolsama


	27. Chapter 27: Looking back

Disclaimer: I don't own K-on

* * *

Yui blinked several times, feeling groggy from having just woken up. _Mio…_ she thought, hugging Elizabeth closer, wishing somehow Mio could magically trade places with her old bass.

They had traded instruments when Mio had moved to go to University to remind themselves of each other and had bought several new instruments since then, using money from the summer success of their graduating album.

Record sales of their single 'Don't say Lazy' had been particularly successful and their producer constantly nagged the young guitarist about calling the band members back to do a music video together.

_I want us to dress up like Samurai and play electric guitar on katana guitars! _ Yui thought, giggling to herself at the thought of Mio dressed up in samurai armor.

Yui smiled, thinking about Elizabeth and her precious 'guita' reuniting again soon as well as how fun it would be to get back together with the keionbu. Mio had sounded so excited on the phone and Yui couldn't wait either.

She twisted around in bed, laughing childishly and wrapping herself up in the blankets like a insect in a cocoon but her laughter soon dissipated as she reflected on the void and lack of warmth by her side.

Whenever she thought about her girlfriend it drove a painful ache of longing into her very being and no matter how hard she tried to stay cheerful, it would eventually drag her down.

Lately she had been trying to avoid spending too much time thinking about Mio and all the memories that filled up this room, the streets, the school…

No matter how desperately she wanted them to stay together she couldn't be selfish enough to ask Mio to give up on University to stay with her…and she couldn't let herself distract Mio from her studies either, which she knew for a fact would happen if she had moved in with Mio when she left.

_Still…Its too unbearable_…Yui thought.

Yui sat up and threw off her covers, yawning and stretching wildly. She glanced at her full body mirror and noticing the disheveled state of her messy brown hair and undergarments.

Her black lacey bra's strap had slipped off her shoulder and her silk panties had slipped down just enough to reveal the sharp line of her Ilium bone. She squeezed her chest together proudly.

_HA. HA. HA. HA. HA._ laughed Yui slowly and triumphantly in her head.

Finally she had filled out and she was rather proud of her size and thin waist. _Mio would probably not be able to resist herself_ thought Yui proudly, tempted to take a picture and send it to her lover to tease her. She grinned thinking about Mio's embarrassed expression.

The last time she had pulled a stunt like that Mio had dropped her cell phone in the middle of lecture and had stamped on it repeatedly to ensure no one else got a glimpse of the screen before it was too late.

It was the first and only time the straight edged girl had gotten in trouble and she called back later, flustered at first and then upset about how much she was longing to be together with her again. "_You're just making this even harder Yui…" _

Mio had complained breathlessly. No matter how much Yui tried to convince Mio to do the same, she would just keep calling her a _dirty old man_ and refuse, her voice rising in embarrassment each time.

Jeez_…I miss Ui too…_she thought sadly, brushing her red and silver bangs to the side so she could see her face properly. Ui had graduated a year early and had gone to study overseas in Germany after a bitter fight with Azusa.

She sent letters frequently but there was no substitute to having her there…_cooking my meals…combing my hair…making my bed…showering me with comforting motherly love…_Yui sighed, feeling miserable.

_"Now you have the chance to learn how to take care of yourself Onee-san! moh…I'll be back soon enough don't worry," _Ui had said, giving Yui a reassuring hug.

The younger sister had practically written her a handbook on how to do certain chores and how to make various dishes that Yui liked and although she had barely dented it… she had already learned how to take care of some bare essentials on her own…the first of which included learning how to bake a cake properly.

It took about a year but Yui figured she pretty much had it on the money by now.

The young rock prodigy pinched her cheeks and made faces at herself for a while, feeling empty and alone.

It had been hard losing Mio to University and she had tried so hard at the end to follow her there but it was too late…and when she tried focusing on both academics and her guitar playing everything would get so chaotic and she would end up failing at both miserably.

Sunlight shone through the windows and Yui squinted as she shifted into a position where the sun reflected off the mirror and into her eyes. She readjusted herself and sighed, thinking about Azusa's annoyed expression.

_Sempai, just forget guitar for a while and focus on studying! Don't you want to be with Mio? Stop slacking off already!" _But her grades were already terrible and it was a little too much for her to catch up and do well on the college entrance exams, no matter how naturally brilliant she was when she put her mind to it.

_All this talent but…it wasn't enough._ Yui thought, thinking about her last ditch effort to power study her way to victory. The memory was bitter particularly because of Mio's constant and loving support and the disappointment Yui felt when the results were announced.

_You have talent but it means nothing if you don't work hard,_ groaned Azusa..but she had smiled sympathetically. _Well, sempai…at least you'll be around to help out with next year's Music club. I know you can make it with your music if you keep at it…or if you study hard enough you can join her next year can't you? _

Ritsu had studied nearly every night with her and although she didn't make it into Mio's University, she made the minimum requirements to attend a nearby college so she had gone as well. "_Yui! I brought energy drinks. Let's do this!" _Ritsu had shouted enthusiastically.

Yui sighed again, _Come on Yui…its not like you to let this stuff keep you so down! You're Mio's shining star, snap out of it already! _Her expression hardened and she stared herself down in the mirror, her expression resolute.

It was at that forked road and after many serious discussions with Mio and the rest of the band that Yui had decided to follow her passion for guitar. Yui loved music fiercely and her friends even more.

Studying had been a roadblock for her but there were infinite possibilities when it came to the six strings on her 'love machine,' the innocently named second guitar she had bought with record sale money.

It just so happened that she was just about perfect for the rock business. It started with an invite to the keion band from Poison Blue's lead singer Hirako to accompany them on a tour during their first holiday after graduation…

Yui had particularly stood out as the lead singer and guitarist of their band and since then, many venues requested her personally.

After Mio and the others went their separate ways… and several successful performances with high profile rock stars later, she received many offers from record companies to produce her own albums.

After much reluctance and pushing from the other band members, she had finally accepted and produced a solo album that was to be released next month after some studio work.

Yui drummed her fingers on her belly nervously, as she was prone to do whenever she thought about her solo work.

It didn't feel right without the whole band there together and despite the studio insisting that she use their professional musicians for her tracks, she had convinced them to let her record one song with the keionbu band.

It was that one song that she was looking forward to hearing the most.

She had to admit, after much soul searching and night after night of struggling to come up with meaningful lyrics, there was a phase where Yui thought there was nothing really substantial about her.

Mio had really pulled her out of that dark place and since then, Yui felt a little bit more confident about herself. It had been very stressful being apart from Mio and writing lyrics and music that accurately portrayed her soul.

The young rock star jumped up off the bed and ran to her closet to change into casual clothing.

She was kind of into star shaped designs at the moment so her current outfit consisted of a thin black sweater with a white star in the middle and ripped jeans with dark blue stars lining the sides.

The long sleeves went past her knuckles, giving her a slightly younger look which Mio seemed to favor. _Who's the dirty old pervert now Mio grandpa san!" _Yui thought to herself as she gave one last look at herself in the mirror.

She reached into the pockets where sure enough, there were several guitar picks and then proceeded to Ui's old bedroom which she had turned into her music room.

It helped when she missed Ui to see her old photos there and when she played in this room, she didn't feel as alone. She smiled as she kicked on the amp and the first notes of music started to reverberate throughout the house.

She strummed a gentle melody at first, singing softly underneath her breath. Her voice when she didn't push out was Mio's favorite although it wasn't practical for when they were giving a performance.

Her voice had matured as well …a little lower and stronger than her highschool days …and completely sexy according to Mio.

Yui's fingers quickened and the strumming pattern became gradually more rock like. _1..2…._ thought Yui as she took a deep breath.

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rawr...speed writing as usual. After 5 chapters or so I'll probably read the reviews carefully and do some serious revision and what not. Thanks to everyone contributing to make this a better story.

lolsama


	28. Chapter 28: RRRRR

Ritsu Tainaka stared out the window of her train, watching the scenery fly by…her half lidded eyes vacant as she tapped her foot to the music playing in her red headphones.

_Here I am, running away again…_

The drummer's sleek brown hair was pulled up in her signature style by a black and white headband that Mio had bought for her as her graduation present. Ritsu shoved her hands into the pockets of her casual grey sports hoody and slid against the chair, propping her feet against the chair in front of her as she tried to get comfortable.

It was a long train ride and she was quite worn out from school and her part time job at the local musical instrument store…and of course Tadao…

Her head bopped to the music in her headphones, keeping rhythm to the bass drumas she relaxed her shoulders, moving them once in a backwards circle to stretch them out. _Tokyo…_ she thought, feeling a little excited.

She placed her hand to the cold window and breathed on it, causing the glass to fog up. _Mio…_ she absentmindedly drew her best friend's name on the glass and then blushed, quickly wiping the condensation away.

It was spur of the moment and she had tons of motivation and energy at the time but the long day had taken a toll on her. _Way to spontaneously do something like this without planning ahead baka…_she chastised herself.

Ritsu had planned on surprising Mio at her apartment but it was getting late and she was starting to worry whether or not she would wake their beloved bass player up or not. _I should send a text just in case…_she thought as she reached into her black sweatpants for her cell phone. _What are you wearing?…_ she typed, grinning as she erased the words.

'Mio, what are you doing tonight?' she retyped.

She flipped her phone closed and sighed, holding it loosely in her hand enjoying the familiar feel of it in her palms.

The phone buzzed and Ritsu flipped open her phone to check Mio's response.

'Nothing much, I think I'm just going to play a bit of bass and then maybe go grab a late night snack at the restaurant next door. What are you up to?' came the reply.

'Guess who's coming to TOKYO?' Ritsu texted back.

'No way. So excited. Lets go eat together' came Mio's quick reply.

Ritsu smiled at her lack of self control. _Oh well, I've had TOO much self control with you anyways, _she thought.

Anticipation was building up inside of her and she kept imagining what she would be saying in 20 or so minutes when she arrived in front of Mio's apartment door… how Mio would be reacting and what they would be doing tonight.

_I heard you weren't partying at all so I came here to show you a good time and get you to loosen up and have fun!_ She imagined herself declaring as imaginary Mio pouted, insisted she was fine and reluctantly agreed to go out with her. _Nice cool nights like this after a long day of studying and work is the perfect time to go wild and party_…thought Ritsu.

Alcohol had proven to be a dangerous thing however so Ritsu fully intended to control herself and instead make sure Mio had a good time.

She had wanted so desperately for so long to see her so having absolute self control and making sure the night went perfect for her felt like an easy mission to accomplish. Despite all the risqué situations that had occurred in the past when alcohol was involved, Mio still retained an unbelievable amount of trust and faith in her.

Ritsu gritted her teeth, remembering all the close calls and the painful fluttering of her heart. Still, in the end she couldn't get enough of it.

Being with the person that made you the happiest in the world…no matter what price or burden came along with it she would pay it gladly over and over.

The drummer grazed a finger against her slender neck, gradually moving up to caress her cheek where Mio had hit her the last time she teased her. She had punched her especially hard the last time they were together and the memory brought a bright smile to Ritsu's face.

She might have had oversold her acting a bit…so much that Mio had nearly started to cry through her constant apologies. _Im such a brute Ritsu! I'll make it up to you are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital? Mio had said, holding Ritsu as she pretended to lie there dying. _

Ritsu sighed, closing her eyes and trying her best to remember the warmth of Mio's embrace…the smell of her hair and the sensation of her tear stained eyes pressing gently against her neck. It was difficult but Ritsu had managed to keep things between them as upbeat and cheerful.

Nothing was more important to the young drummer than staying close to Mio and being able to protect her. When they were in high school, Ritsu often teased Mio but as the years passed and as they matured it was becoming less frequent. Didn't change the fact that once in a while Ritsu let Mio have it really good for old times' sake.

Ritsu sighed, curling her knees to her chest and hugging them loosely, gripping the soft fabric of her black sweatpants.

She rested her head against her knees as she fought the frustration of being in love with someone you just couldn't have. No matter what she did, no matter who she tried to start a relationship with…it all fell apart so easily.

She had warned herself and her ex boyfriend about the way she was but in the end… breaking his heart had been incredibly taxing for her…_And now I'm running to the one person I can't have…_

Ritsu glanced up, staring at the back of the seat in front of her. She had pressed on in the only direction she could. Towards accepting the fact that at least for now…until things played out she would have to be alone.

_Why couldn't I have acted first_, she wondered to herself remembering the events that played up to Mio and Yui dating each other. It was a common fantasy that she were several scenarios that she had often imagined happening in an alternate universe where she had been quicker to act than Yui.

Even now she was happy for them but back then, when she was going crazy with longing and sadness she had told herself over and over that it would pass.

That she would accept the way things were and move on but in the end she just couldn't forget about her longing for _Mio…_ after all, she was the knight and Mio was the damsel in distress wasn't she? But another knight had beaten her to it _and what a radically awesome one too…_Ritsu thought, thinking about Yui. Their lead guitarist's vibrant energy, charisma, and cheerfulness were overflowing these days.

Maybe it was seeing how happy Yui and Mio were together…whenever they flirted in front of the others or made a cute romantic gesture towards each other… it was just too easy to see herself in Yui's place, either giving or being the recipient of Mio's love.

_Just friends…just friends…like blood related sisters …_ Ritsu chanted the familiar phrase in her head.

The young drummer had learned many mental tricks to being able to control her emotions better over the years. It had taken serious mental discipline to stay cheerful when Mio animatedly talked or complained about the ups and downs of dating a happy go lucky ditz like Yui.

_Maybe I'll give Arisu a chance…_ she wondered, her mind wandering to the shy raven haired girl with oversized glasses from her English class. She had glimpsed the younger girl when she dropped her glasses one day and she had been surprisingly similar looking to Mio.

She had avoided dating girls on purpose but maybe it was what she needed…Tadao had been a nearly perfect boyfriend and Ritsu found herself believing that they could make it more than once… but in the end… after every fight she realized she was looking for more and more excuses to end it with him.

She cringed, remembering his broken expression…his sad downcast eyes when she had said goodbye for the last time. Forcing herself to keep running instead of turning back and begging for him to take her back had taken all she had.

After all, wishing for a future where she was happy wasn't such a crime was it? Even if it was fake…there were times when he made her completely forget about Mio…maybe it just needed more time…

_But in the end, that's one of the reasons I had to leave you…_for a moment, Ritsu felt an incredible amount of longing for Tadao's strong arms, his familiar feeling of his lips against her forehead and lips.

_Snap out of it Ritsu, you're nearly there! _Ritsu closed her eyes tight, wishing for all the sadness, negative emotions and feelings to disappear from her being. She put on her brave face as the train came to a stop and jumped to her feet, her headphones slipping of her ears to dangle around her neck. She grabbed her overnight bag and headed towards the exit.

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Please review, your feedback helps me going

lolsama


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